‘Avatar environment’ teaches stroke victims

‘Avatar environment’ teaches stroke victims to feel their limbs again

By Peter Kerr

August 20 (BusinessDesk) – A Wellington-based start-up has invented a computer game system that allows stroke victims to connect with a digital world to teach their muscles how to fire again.

One year old Im-Able Ltd.’s computer game-based rehabilitation device has just won the prototype category of the 2010 Engineers Australia, College of Biomedical Engineering Better Technology Awards. Its ‘Able-X’ wireless air mouse on a handle, encourages three-dimensional arm movements via a range of computer games.

Able-X was developed by a Christchurch Industrial Research Ltd. team led by Marcus King in collaboration with Stickmen Studios and Pukka Design Studio, along with investment funding from Technology N.Z.

“If you have a stroke, or any other neurological problem, you’re killing, damaging or blocking some of the brain networks,” said Im-Able director, Geoff Todd. A stroke also causes muscle wastage as that part of the body doesn’t get used. “Other networks exist in the brain that aren’t being used, and rehabilitation works to connect those new networks and get the affected parts of the body moving again.”

Usually the rehabilitation requires one-on-one therapy with a trained specialists, which, when a patient leaves hospital, isn’t readily available.

“There are no cheap products to help people recover,” Todd said. “Our aim is to develop rehabilitation systems that are affordable and enable a person with strokes or other neurological disorders to help themselves recover at home.

The Able-X device and games makes people move in certain ways, builds strength and helps recover neurological networks.”

Based on clinical trial data carried out in Otago on 14 people who had had strokes in the past, every single patient improved Todd said.

One key to this is that during an hour’s ‘gaming’ some actions may be repeated up to 1000 times without the player noticing. This compares to the involvement of a therapist where patients might be lucky to have 100 repetitions.

“There’s nothing like this in the world,” Todd said. “There’s a complete absence of alternatives other than simple systems that involve a physiotherapist or occupational therapist.”

Having trialed and perfected its beta version, Im-Able is now aiming to retail the Able-X, which works on any computer, for less than $1000.

It initially will target the local, Australian, U.K. and American markets through those countries’ strong network of stroke clubs, which provides a market channel for the arm device. These four countries alone have 1.2 million new stroke victims a year, while the cost of stroke support care alone in New Zealand is estimated at $400 million per annum.

Im-Able’s next moves beyond developing the Able-X market channels is to develop a suite of neurological disorder rehabilitation devices, including an Able-M, targeting patients who can hardly lift their arms at all.

The company has some protection of its intellectual property by being exclusively licensed to market the product under IRL’s patents, and it intends to rapidly expand its product suite and own channel distribution which “should give us significant competitive advantages,” Todd said.

Im-Able will also soon be seeking additional investment capital to enable market expansion.

“As a classic start-up, we’re a small group that has invested our own time and money so far,” Todd said. “In the end our motivation is to help people help themselves. There’s nothing more satisfying that seeing someone use your product, and seeing them improve. You can see the observable difference, its fantastic.”

The Australian prize is an acknowledgement that Im-Able and its wider team have created something that others think is novel, to the forefront of technology and novel he said.

(BusinessDesk)

© Scoop Media