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An immersive new computer game could give stroke patients an “espresso-like jolt” that stimulates more effective brain repair, according to the neurologist that devised it.
The Pixar-like “neuro-animation” uses motion-sensitive cameras to track the movements made by a patient’s arm to direct a dolphin across a floor-to-ceiling screen to catch fish.
Professor John Krakauer of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the United States said the game accelerates rewiring of the brain around cells that have been damaged by a stroke and helps patients regain control of their nervous systems.
Small-scale trials of MindPod show it is twice as effective as conventional rehabilitation for patients with an impaired arm, a common consequence of a stroke.
The NHS is also about to start a study of the device.
“If you just see yourself trying to open a cupboard or lift up a cup you are going to try to do it the way you used to do it and you are going to get depressed when you can’t,” said Prof Krakauer.
“We are putting you in an environment that can’t be compared to anything you have ever done, and so you are free to explore and free to feel good.
“You want an alternative reality where you don’t think about your limitations.”
The dolphin, called Bandit, invites patients to “be” them and the software’s algorithm then stretches their mind and body in the hope of maximising recovery
Around 100,000 people year in the UK suffer a stroke. Just 10% make a full recovery.
Prof Krakauer said the game encourages the same kind of exploratory “neuro-babbling” that babies use to improve hand-eye coordination.
Sky News was given exclusive access to the first MindPod in the UK, at the Royal Buckinghamshire Hospital,…
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Source : skynews
