SPIDER as A Rehabilitation Tool for Patients with Neurological Disabilities: The Preliminary Research

Abstract

(1) Background and purpose: SPIDER (Strengthening Program for Intensive Developmental Exercises and activities for Reaching health capability) is dedicated for patients suffering from Cerebral Palsy, Sclerosis Multiplex, Spinal Bifida, Spinal Muscular Atrophy and strokes. Authors proposed a computer model for the evaluation patient’s condition and the rehabilitation progress. (2) Methods: The 2-year-old and 76-year-old patients with neurological problems, who underwent individual therapy included balancing and coordination practising with SPIDER device. The model comparing the forces, which act during the therapy process, such as the expander and gravity forces, was worked out using Matlab software. (3) Results: The model allowed controlling the changes into the patients centre of gravity forces continuous adjustment and postural stability during any patient’s movement. After rehabilitation sessions, lasted for 28 days during which patients received the progress information and the therapist got the numeric data, regarding the period of the therapy. (4) Conclusions: The first patient was able to move, dramatically improved the ability to balance and coordination. The second one presented change in gait, improvement in mobility, motor function and decreased fall risk. The proposed computer model gives information about the forces acting to the patient body. The physiotherapist can evaluate the progress of patient verticalization and receive information, in the form of numbers and charts.

Effects of Dynamic Suit Orthoses on the Spatio-Temporal Gait Parameters in Children with Cerebral Palsy: A Systematic Review

“…Each method establishes a different intensive therapy protocol, consisting of long-lasting sessions, distributed over a number of sessions per week, over a period of several weeks. Some of them also use body support elements such as elastic cords and a metal cage (SPIDER system) to help verticalisation when the child is unable to stand upright on his or her own [37].…”

Development of an Exoskeleton Platform of the Finger for Objective Patient Monitoring in Rehabilitation

“…This trend was also demonstrated with the exoskeleton, although it should be noted as a limitation that the number of patients was small. Furthermore, the applied system is not limited to CRPS by default, but can also be applied to different rehabilitation scenarios, such as strokes, and can be used as an extension of existing rehabilitation devices, such as the SPIDER system by Glowinski and Blazejewski [31]. The future goals of this project will be to extend the exoskeleton to the whole hand as well as extend the application.…”

Evaluation of the Effect of SPIDER System Therapy on Weight Shifting Symmetry in Chronic Stroke Patients—A Randomized Controlled Trial

“…The cords are attached to a support belt, which in turn is placed around the patient’s waist. The force generated depends on the type of expander (two types of cords are used) and the height of attachment on the cage of the SPIDER device (height of expander attachment—center of gravity angle) ( Figure 4 ) [ 34 , 35 , 36 ].…”

“…Conversely, the patient is loaded if the cords are attached below the level of this belt (below the transverse plane). This quick way of changing the load and unloading is a useful possibility in the training [ 34 ]. In patients who have a problem with learned disuse of the lower limb of the affected side, transferring body weight to this limb is challenging.…”