Personalised medicine in the area of rehabilitation thanks to robotics

Since the National Public Paraplegic Hospital (HNP) of Toledo (Spain) opened its doors in 1974 it has been devoted to treating spinal injuries and was later officially recognised by the Spanish Ministry of Health as a national reference centre. In this interview, Carolina Redondo, a doctor from the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Unit, describes how new technologies have evolved in the area of rehabilitation, the key features underpinning their implementation and the challenges to be faced in future in terms of the outstanding role to be played by robotic technologies.

1.- Your hospital has played a pioneering role with regard to incorporating new rehabilitation systems. How do you view the current situation? What challenges are you now facing with regard to the rehabilitation of paraplegic patients?

As the National Paraplegic Hospital has always focused on innovation, this explains why the incorporation of new technologies is basic to develop treatment programmes. We now have a centralised Unit for Robotic Treatments and Virtual Reality to make the most of the benefits these therapies offer us.

The management and physical treatment of spinal injuries require a combination of different approaches which, according to the currently available evidence, have yielded much more effective results (developing physical strength, plasticity …).

One of the challenges of neurorehabilitation is related to setting up units that will allow us to work in this manner. Another relevant factor is to provide clinicians with electrostimulation for robotic strategies resulting from research actions.

2.- How will robotic technologies help you address these challenges?

Thanks to robotic therapies it is now possible to optimise the stimuli received by the central nervous system in terms of quality and number. This greatly facilitates work related to basic neuroplasticity when the ultimate goal is to improve neurological conditions.

3.- Which do you think are the key elements required to incorporate these technologies efficiently to healthcare systems and, more specifically, to rehabilitation?

Most robotic systems are costly and non-affordable. Virtual reality, however, has outperformed robotics and there are nowadays low-cost systems that can be applied to a larger number of patients for use in the area of telemedicine.

4.- Any future trends you can foresee in this area?

The trend is to increasingly focus more on personalised medicine. Thanks to robotics, we can adapt more accurately to the needs of each patient. This is very important in the case of patients with spinal injuries because there are many different kinds of lesions and it does not only depend on the characteristics of the spinal lesion itself but also on the clinical situation of people with this condition.

5.- How do you think the “Human-Centered Health Technologies” seminar will help to boost this particular area of healthcare?

There is no doubt that an outstanding professional forum like this will give rise to an exchange of promising knowledge that will help us develop user-centred systems. This explains the importance of bringing together all the players in this sector so we can walk in the same direction and never lose sight of the needs of our patients.

6.- How will attendees from the socio-health system benefit from this seminar?

In a professional environment where multi-disciplinarity is playing an increasingly relevant role, that fact that we practitioners know what we’re doing helps to form a global vision in very little time. This vision will enrich all professionals through new approaches.