In modern medicine, the trend is increasingly moving away from ’a one-size-fits-all approach’ towards individually tailored treatment. This can be a great advantage, particularly in neurorehabilitation, i.e. therapy following illnesses such as strokes or other neurological problems. But what exactly is behind it? Let’s break it down clearly and simply.
Why is neurorehabilitation needed?
Many people around the world are affected by neurological diseases – such as strokes, Parkinson’s disease or multiple sclerosis. Even after an accident with a traumatic brain injury, neurorehabilitation helps affected people to become as independent as possible and regain temporarily impaired functions. However, not every therapy works equally well for everyone.
What is ‘precision medicine’?
‘Precision medicine means that treatments are tailored precisely to the individual person. Information about the patient’s body (e.g. genes), everyday life and environment is taken into account. The goal to find the most effective therapy at the right time for each individual person.
What does this mean for neurorehabilitation?
In neurorehabilitation, this means
- Movements are tracked using sensors, e.g. with wristbands that show how often someone moves in everyday life.
- This data helps to better understand the course of therapy.
- The therapy can thus be adapted more precisely – for example with personalised feedback during exercises.
An example: a patient with balance problems receives audio feedback through headphones to help correct her posture. As motivation, even their favourite music can be played as a reward!
What happens to all the data?
The information collected not only helps in everyday life, but also in research. With tools like artificial intelligence (AI), for example, it is possible to make better predictions about how well someone will recover – and which treatment will help the most.
What else is important?
For precision neurorehabilitation to work, it needs:
– Well-trained staff
– Close cooperation between the various disciplines
– Advanced technology and openness to innovative ideas
Precision rehabilitation at cereneo
At cereneo, patients receive a personalised therapy plan tailored to their deficits and goals. This plan is drawn up at the beginning by our interdisciplinary team based on an initial assessment. Over the course of the rehabilitation stay, weekly assessments take place and, if patients wish, continuous activity monitoring. Patients wear up to four sensors on their wrists and ankles, which record their activity 24 hours a day. Patients can decide for themselves whether they want to wear the sensors continuously or remove them for a few hours.
The sensor data is read out once a week and displayed in an activity profile for the patient. The profile includes the time the sensors are worn, the amount of time the arm is used, the ratio between left and right arm use, the activity level (sedentary, light, moderate or vigorous activity) and the number of steps taken. These activity profiles provide a more differentiated insight into the patient’s movement activities outside of therapy times and make it possible to adapt the therapy plan even more individually to their needs.
Precise neurorehabilitation offers many opportunities
With precision rehabilitation, therapies can be even more individualised and effective. This makes it possible to provide patients with even better support on their personalised path to recovery.
