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VIRTUAL REHAB PROGRAM, real therapy
System helps to rehabilitate patients
BOARDMAN
Gripping the sides of her black walker, Josephine Hughes moved her white tennis-shoed feet from side to side and watched as her onscreen character, a light brown fox with droopy eyes and long, pointy ears, mimicked her movements.
The objective of the game: to catch as many bunches of red grapes as she could before they fell to the ground.
Hughes, a patient at the Advanced Specialty Hospitals of Greenbriar Rehabilitation in Boardman, used the hospital’s OmniVR Virtual Rehabilitation System for about a week in mid-February to aid her recovery after she suffered a small stroke.
The system is available at 125 facilities nationwide and at three other facilities in Ohio — Piqua Manor in Piqua, Copley Health Center in Akron and Broadview Multi Care Center in Parma, said Joe Cummings, marketing manager for Accelerated Care Plus, the company that developed the OmniVR.
Cara Carramusa, director of rehabilitation at Greenbriar, 8064 South Ave., said more than 50 patients have gone through the therapy program since Greenbriar acquired the system in December.
Similar to the PlayStation Move and Xbox Kinect video-game systems, the OmniVR has a camera that captures the subject and creates an avatar that follows the subject’s motions in real time.
“It’s great because it works for all rehab populations,” Carramusa said.
“If you have somebody who’s had a stroke and has lost use of the entire left side of their body, they’re not going to be able to use Wii and Xbox because it’s going to be too difficult for them,” she said.
Cummings said while other rehabilitation centers have incorporated gaming systems such as the Wii and Xbox into their therapy practices, the OmniVR is a virtual-reality system designed specifically for use in rehabilitation.
“The gaming systems on the market have very complex graphics, which is something that can be confusing and distracting for elderly patients, and the OmniVR has simpler graphics for that reason,” Cummings said.
Carramusa said the system offers six programs and two to five subcategories for each program. The therapist can set the challenge level and parameters according to each patient’s needs.
As Hughes continued catching the grapes falling on screen, Aimee Johnson, a Youngstown State physical-therapy student, stood with her hands on Hughes’ waist, helping to steady her from behind.
“The system serves as an adjunct to therapists; it does not replace them,” Carramusa said. “We still have our hands-on people. We’re still helping patients get through the exercise.”
Cummings said rather than measuring wins and losses, the system measures how many reps were done.
“The goal here is to get patients exercising. Winning and losing is not part of the system,” he said.
Cummings said the system keeps track of a patient’s progress and creates a printout so the therapist has a written record of what was accomplished in each session.
Helen Kozlow, 87, of Poland, had poor balance and difficulty walking when she began therapy twice a week at Greenbriar in early August. On July 24, she had gone through a second surgery to correct problems with her vertebrae.
Kozlow credits the staff and therapy programs at the rehabilitation center for her progress in walking without a cane or walker.
“My walk isn’t a graceful walk, but it’s getting stronger,” Kozlow said.
Though she used the Omni-VR Virtual Rehabilitation System fewer than 10 times, she said it was a positive experience.
“It was geared toward me moving my feet whether I was trying to get to the flower before the rabbit got to it or trying to get to the finish line before something else did,” Kozlow said. “It’s a wonderful, wonderful rehabilitation tool.”
She finished the therapy program March 1.
Don Feren, 62, of Canfield, lost his right leg above the knee in a motorcycle accident Aug. 28, 2010. He was on his way to his new job as athletic director at David Anderson Junior/Senior High School in Lisbon when the accident occurred.
To adjust to his artificial limb, he began four weeks of therapy at Greenbriar in late December.
Feren began using the Virtual Rehabilitation System during his second week of therapy and used it intermittently throughout the rest of his sessions.
“It was very challenging, but it was good,” Feren said.
Feren used a number of programs in the system, including the grape-catching game Hughes played, as well as a beach volleyball game and a game in which his avatar walked through a city.
“It was a very unique situation. I had never been involved in anything like that before,” Feren said.