Sheltering Arms embraces smart devices

By: Tammie Smith | Richmond Times Dispatch
Published: February 13, 2009

Over the years, Sheltering Arms has reinvented itself, moving to larger buildings as demand increased and in 1980 switching from an acute-care hospital to providing rehabilitation care only.

The shift under way today, as the rehabilitation hospital celebrates 120 years of service, is technology-driven, said James E. Sok, president and chief executive officer of Sheltering Arms.

Smart devices in development such as artificial human exoskeletons and injected nerve stimulators the size of a grain of rice promise patients who have had a stroke or spinal-cord injury restoration of function beyond what was thought possible a decade ago.

"An exoskeleton is an external device that is worn on the body," explained Sok. "In Japan they have technology where you put on a suit on a frame. You could put on an external set of arms. . . . If you can normally pick up 50 pounds with your arms, these machines will allow you to pick up 100 pounds."

Bionic neurons -- Bions -- nerve stimulators that can be controlled, for instance, by wireless devices, also are being studied.

"Eventually they will insert one in the area of the brain that controls movement of an arm," Sok said. "You think about moving your arm, it sends a signal to the little Bion in your arms that controls the muscle in your arm and you get movement. That technology is 10 years away linking those through the brain. But the implantable technology to go into the arm is only a few years away."

Bioness products, which deliver electrical stimuli to muscles and nerves to spur movements of the hand or leg, are available now at Sheltering Arms.

"The technology is going to change the way people with disabilities live in the future," Sok said.

With the aging of baby boomers, places such as Sheltering Arms expect to see an increase in the need for their services.

"The goal is to take people when their lives have been saved in these great acute-care hospitals we have all around us, and then help them regain function and get back to their normal course of living," Sok said.

They are patients such as Mary Slack, 68, who had a stroke in June. Working with a therapist, her speech returned fairly quickly, she said. Getting arm and hand function back has been slower.

"It's hard. It's a lot of work," Slack said as she used a rehabilitation device called a SaeboFlex to pick up and drop colorful balls into a basket at the Sheltering Arms hospital in Mechanicsville. Occupational therapist Natalie Smyk had Slack repeat the activity over and over.

Slack said one of the things she missed most was being able to cook for her children and grandchildren.

With some adaptive utensils recommended by the therapists, she is slowly doing more and more food-preparation tasks, starting with chopping.

"I'm cooking now," she said.

Contact Tammie Smith at (804) 649-6572 or TLsmith@timesdispatch.com.