Health News - Sunday, February 11, 2007
A new system is using virtual reality scenes of surfing and jogging to help physiotherapy patients improve their balance and, for some, even to learn to walk again. Doctors hope the Computer Assisted Rehabilitation Environment (CAREN), developed by motion simulation company MOTEK, can help 26-year-old Ido Borovsky walk with more confidence on a foot whose nerves were damaged.
Borovsky, hit in the left leg by shrapnel in an anti-tank missile attack in Lebanon last summer, was put through the paces at Chaim Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv. Watching a virtual choppy sea on the screen in front of him and to the sound of dance music, Borovsky moved up and down on two steps on a round platform -- motions that steered a boat through the waves. Continue reading