Tailwind device helps brains of stroke victims

Turner's progress has made him something of a poster child for a machine called the Tailwind. It's licensed and for sale by researchers from the University of Maryland who invented it and a local entrepreneur who believed it could help patients like Turner.

“We think there is tremendous potential for this device,” said Sandy McCombe Waller, who worked on the Tailwind with colleague Jill Whitall. Both are professors in the University of Maryland School of Medicine's Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science. Turner was a test subject.

“Mr. Turner didn't start high functioning but has been able to return to recreational activities,” she said. “He can grab things with his arm, drink from a cup. They sound like little things, but they are huge things.”

Strokes affect about 750,000 people a year in the U.S. and are the third-largest killer behind heart disease and cancer, according to the American Stroke Association. They are the top cause of adult disabilities.

Clamped to a table at the university, the Tailwind looks like not much more than a set of metal arms with handles. A stroke patient sits in front of it, grasps the handles and repeatedly runs them back and forth to a metronome, a steady, audible beat that facilitates movement. Unlike a bicycle, the limbs move independently, so a weak arm cannot depend on a functioning arm.

According to two studies printed in Stroke and the Journal of the American Medical Association, patients who use the device begin to show progress after about six weeks.

The repetition retrains the part of the brain that controls motor skills but was damaged by a stroke. A stroke on the left side of the brain affects the right arm, and vice versa. Like muscle strengthening, weakened motor pathways eventually become stronger and patients make smoother movements.

The machine tilts up, the arms extend and the metronome pace increases to make it more challenging. The eight-minute sets were exhausting for Turner, but the workouts have been worth it, he said one recent day as he demonstrated his routine at the university, moving his arms out and back in tandem, and then one after the other.

“Results come in spurts,” said Turner, who participated in a Tailwind study two years ago and has continued working with the machine at the university and at home (researchers gave him a device).

1|2|Next Page>>

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email