Virtual reality helps stroke patients use weakened limbs
- June 10, 2015, 9:21 pm
- National News
- 52 Views
HQ City Desk
QUETTA: Virtual reality could help stroke patients recover by "tricking" them into thinking their affected limb is more accurate than it really is.
Researchers in Spain found that making the affected limb appear more effective on screen increased the chance the patient would use it in real life.
This is important because stroke victims often underuse their affected limbs, making them even weaker.
A stroke charity welcomed the study and called for more research.
In the study of 20 stroke patients, researchers sometimes enhanced the virtual representation of the patient's affected limb, making it seem faster and more accurate, but without the patient's knowledge.
After the episodes in which the limbs were made to seem more effective, the patients then went on to use them more, according to lead researcher Belen Rubio.
