Ross Sheil, Staff Reporter

Dr. Felix Akinladejo, computer engineering lecturer, demonstrating his virtual-reality therapy system for post-acute stroke patients in his office at the University of Technology in St. Andrew. - Photo by Ross Sheil

After suffering a stroke, patients have a key three-month window in which to recover movement. After that there is a six-month period during which chances of recovery diminish.

Three years ago, as a doctoral student, Dr. Felix 'Wole' Akinladejo, originally from Nigeria and a computer engineering lecturer at the University of Technology (UTech), pondered how he could aid stroke recovery after the post-acute stage of three weeks.

Too Squeamish

He had originally wanted to become a medical doctor but, by university age, thought he might be too squeamish, instead preferring the 'cleaner' world of computing.

"I didn't like the sores and what else you have to see as a doctor, but I respected the dignity of the profession and wanted to find a way for computers to be applied to the world of medicine," he said.

What he has developed is a virtual-reality game helping patients recover movement in their legs - what he believes is the first such experiment in the world targeting the 'lower extremities' of stroke patients. This, he said, is proven by the results of tests conducted on five patients who recorded increased movement in their legs.

Four stroke patients were involved in the experiment last year and one non-stroke patient this year (who suffered similar leg movement problems following a car accident). The patients received the therapy 30 minutes a day, five days a week for four weeks. The car accident patient received two weeks' therapy.

Hyacinth James, environmental health and safety manager at the Carreras Limited in Spanish Town, St. Catherine, where she is also the company nurse, was the patient injured in the car crash, leaving her with walking difficulties.

But just this weekend Mrs. James, who once worked with stroke patients in London during her nursing training, was out dancing.

Walk Downstairs

She said that, besides traditional physiotherapy, her two weeks on the experiment meant she was able to walk downstairs almost normally, albeit still using handrails.

"For the short space of time it was significant because you could feel the pain in the muscle at the end of the sessions so you realised that the muscles must have been strengthened," she said. "You are challenged whereas, in traditional physiotherapy, very often you are just lying there."

What Mrs. James described as "exciting" was also welcomed by Tanya Edwards, a physiotherapist at Kingston Public Hospital (KPH). "There was significant increase in the ankle range," confirmed Ms. Edwards.

But more important, she added, the system requires less supervision by physiotherapists. The experiment could free up time at KPH where waiting lists for stroke patients are full until after the first quarter of 2007.

Dr. Akinladejo said he will begin seeking sponsors, having kept the experiment under wraps so far and only just having submitted a patent application.

"If we have sponsors, then maybe we can look at smaller instruments that do the same things, because right now you have to have the patient come here, but then we could just play it at the clinics, something that could be carried easily but ultimately used at home," he said.

Sponsorship would also help fund the recruitment of master's students to validate the experiment in clinical trials.

In partnership with the New Kingston-based Insight rehabilitation centre, the system should be introduced into a clinical environment mid-2007, since it is currently housed in his office at UTech.

"I think it is a system that has great potential and the whole virtual reality area is very exciting in terms of how it can be applied to physiotherapy and there are still improvements that can be made to its clinical application," said Sharmella Martin, owner/physiotherapist at the Insight centre.

Dr. Akinladejo revealed that he is also looking at using the system to train cricketers.

How it works:

The experiment is relatively simple, asking patients to draw pictures according to instructions. Wearing a virtual-reality headset, electromagnetic tracker sensors attached to their legs and a special pad on one foot, patients paint pictures using an upturned computer mouse. Their movements are recorded by the computer.

"They think they are playing a game but they are actually exercising their leg and improving the communication between their brain and legs," said Dr. Akinladejo.

The game has four different difficulty levels, asking patients to draw progressively more complicated pictures. But, more important, with each level passed, the game is demanding greater and more complex physical movement.

Strokes in Jamaica:

According to research by Dr. Akinladejo, 200 people died of strokes in Jamaica in 2002, and hypertension (high blood pressure), which is one of the major causes of strokes, is present in three out of 10 Jamaicans.

Feedback: contact Ross Sheil at 932-6243 or ross.sheil@gleanerjm.com.