Stimulators

Allows Robot 'Remote Presence "in Programming stimulating the brain and spine :

With the rapid expansion of the use of the brain and spinal cord stimulation therapy (neuromodulation), the new "remote presence" technologies can help meet demand for experts to program the stimulator, reports a study published in the January Neurosurgery.

The preliminary study conducted by Dr. Ivar Mendez of Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, supports the feasibility and safety of using a remote presence robot - called the "RP-7" - for increasing access to skilled specialists for programming and brain stimulators used spine neuromodulation.
Robot allows experts Nurses Program Guide Simulators Dr. Mendez and his group developed the RP-7 as a way to allow the "experts" are not experts telementor nurses simulators programming devices. Already widely used for Parkinson's disease and severe chronic pain, modulations is being studied for use in other conditions, such as epilepsy, severe depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
In this form of therapy, a small electrode is surgically placed in a precise location in the brain or spine. A gentle electric current is supplied to stimulate said area, with the aim of disrupting the abnormal activity. As more patients undergo therapy for stimulation of the brain and spinal cord, there is a growing demand for programming expert stimulators generate electrical current.
The RP-7 is a battery-operated mobile robot that can be controlled by a laptop. It is equipped with cameras and microphones, allowing the expert, the nurse and patient to communicate. The robot's "head" consists of a flat screen monitor that shows the face of expert operator.
The RP-7 also has an "arm" equipped with a touchscreen controller, the nurse can use to program the stimulator. The expert can "telestrate" to tell the nurse pushing the right buttons for the programming.
Access to specialists in the next room - or miles away in the preliminary study, patients with neuromodulation devices were randomized to conventional programming, with the expert in the room, or remote programming, with the expert using the RP -7 to guide a nurse in the programming of the stimulator. For the study, experts operators were simply in another room of the same building. However, since the RP-7 operates on a conventional wireless connection, the expert can be anywhere you have Internet access.
In the analysis of 20 patients (10 in each group), no significant difference in the accuracy or clinical outcomes of controls by the presence versus conventional programming. No adverse events occurred at any meeting.
The remote presence session took a little time: 33 versus 26 minutes, on average. Patients, nurses expert and all gave high satisfaction scores of programming experience.
"This study shows that the presence of distance can be used for programming of the focal points of neuromodulation devices," Dr. Mendez and coauthors write. The study provides "proof of principle" that the RP-7 or similar devices can help meet the need of expertise needed to serve a growing number of patients with neuromodulation therapies.
Researchers have also begun a pilot study using a new mobile device, called RP-Xpress. About the size of a small suitcase, the RP-Xpress is being used for long distances home visits for patients who live hundreds of miles away, using existing local cellular networks. Dr. Mendez and his colleagues conclude: "We envision a time in the near future, when patients with implanted devices neuromodulation have real-time access to a physician experienced in the comfort of your own home."