Robotic rehabilitation technology is helping patients at Fraser Health

New Westminster, BC –

Rehabilitation after suffering a stroke or experiencing another debilitating condition can be grueling, but Fraser Health has two new robotic tools that are expected to improve patient outcomes.

It’s all thanks to stroke patient Toan Nguyen, who donated the devices through the Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation after benefiting from their use at other facilities.

For upper body work, patients have been using the ArmeoPower device for a few weeks now, which uses virtual reality to simulate real-life activities such as fishing or grocery shopping.

Guillain-Barre syndrome patient Linda Mesetovic spoke to CTV News on Wednesday at the Queen’s Park Care Centre, where the two devices are now operational.

She is grateful to have used the ArmeoPower because it gives her a more active role in her rehabilitation.

“I don’t feel like I’m being tossed around and poked and stuff,” Mesetovic said. “I actually do this myself, yes. For me that makes a big difference.”

The second device is called the LokoMat.

Stroke patients like Leanne Mork use it to regain balance and mobility.

Patients climb into an exoskeleton that hangs above a treadmill and robotic sensors help move their legs.

“It’s fun,” Mork told CTV News during an interview Wednesday, just after setting a new personal record on the LokoMat in front of our camera. “I hope we can continue to do this.”

Considering how physically and mentally demanding physical rehabilitation can be, the fact that the two tools include gaming is something the staff sees as a benefit.

“Some games are very realistic, so things like grocery shopping put our patients more in context, and that really helps rebuild those neural connections,” says Melanie Mayede, an occupational therapist at Queen’s Park.

Particularly when it comes to the LokoMat, the exoskeleton harness allows people to participate in certain physical activities sooner than they otherwise would be able to.

“With the robotic device we can see patients at a low to moderate level, whereas with patients with a normal harness they have a more moderate to higher level,” says Luke Plesa, clinical practice leader in physiotherapy at Queen’s Park.

And since the devices are expensive and rare, facility leaders are grateful for the donation.

“I can say with certainty that if they had not been donated, it would have been very difficult for us to acquire this technology and have it installed at a Fraser Health site,” said Saba Hena, the Queen’s Park project manager Care Center.

“We are very grateful to our donor who made this possible.”

While these devices are in use in some private facilities, these two devices at Queen’s Park are the only ones of their kind available within the public system in BC.