Stroke is the leading cause of long-term disability in the US. It also kills more than 130,000 Americans each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Over 700,000 people suffer from a stroke per year or about one person every four seconds.
Through the advancement of technology, there are numerous treatments that help stroke survivors regain their lost abilities. The only drawback is that only a few stroke survivors continue with their therapy after they leave the hospital. They usually get bored with the repetitive exercises their therapist gives them, so they tend to discontinue their therapy.
Nizan Friedman, the founder of Flint Rehabilitation Devices – a company that develops effective and engaging rehabilitation aids that are backed by science, made it a point to remedy this problem. Friedman is not only an entrepreneur, he is also a musician and an engineer. He came up with an idea that fused all of his passions together while working on his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering at the University of California.
To help stroke patients, he wanted to combine robotics and music therapy but upon realizing that a robotic hand would be too expensive, they came up with MusicGlove instead which worked better than they could’ve hoped for.
What is MusicGlove?
MusicGlove is a wearable hand therapy device that is specifically made for stroke survivors. It helps people who had neurological and muscle injuries improve and regain their motor skills. The glove has tiny sensors that can detect the patient’s hand movements.
The glove is designed similarly to the game Guitar Hero. Patients can play a musical game that includes pinching and gripping music notes that you can see on a tablet screen (or your laptop) while a song is playing. The glove takes into account the speed and strength of the movements so stroke survivors are able to track their improvement after a time of playing.
MusicGlove helps in increasing the patient’s attention span, neuropsychological scores, cognitive function, well-being, recovery, and encourages them to be independent.
For a quick overview of MusicGlove, check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-0DF58FUDo
MusicGlove is the first rehabilitation device that is approved by the FDA and clinically validated to make at-home therapy sessions fun and effective for stroke survivors. Using the glove is similar to the exercises a patient does after leaving the hospital. The key to a fast recovery is high repetition, which means that the patient needs to do a movement repeatedly and being motivated to do it every single day.
MusicGlove aims to take away the boredom that comes with doing the same thing over and over again. With the use of catchy songs and gamification principles, the patient will never see therapy as a chore again.
Aside from being FDA approved, MusicGlove is also clinically proven to develop hand mobility in just two weeks.
How to Use MusicGlove
Using MusicGlove is fairly simple. You have to wear the device on your hand and plug it into your personal computer of Flint tablet and then press play. When the music plays you just have to follow through and make the right pinching movements when musical notes start floating down the screen. It is as easy as that.
It is portable, easy to set up, and user-friendly. Unlike most of the innovative rehabilitation devices, MusicGlove allows you to practice effective therapy right in the comfort of the patient’s home or on the go. Setting the device up takes less than two minutes of your time and does not require any knowledge on how to use a computer.
When you buy a MusicGlove, it comes in with everything you need to get started: a 10-inch tablet for the home version or a 21-inch monitor for a clinic version, the glove, custom headphones, a user manual, and connection cables. Since it is FDA approved, you can purchase MusicGlove without a prescription.
One session of musicGlove is about 45 minutes long, and each session enables the patient to do over 2,000 repeating movements.
(Caption: Guitar Hero simulates playing a real guitar through following electronic cues on a screen)
MusicGlove is not for people with no hand movement. However, there is one testimonial of a man with a paralyzed hand who used MusicGlove similar to mirror therapy. He thought all hope was lost but after numerous sessions, he started to regain hand movement. There is no assurance that a stroke survivor would reap the same benefits but this inspiring story leads you to believe that there is hope.
(Caption: Mirror Therapy helps trick the brain into thinking there is movement in a limb without pain when there really isn’t any.)
To use MusicGlove, the patient is given a choice on how many grips he or she wants. They can start with a single pinch or several pinches, depending on the need and comfort level.
Flint Rehabilitation Devices recommends this regimen:
- Start with a 15-minute session on the easy level.
- Increase the duration of the session gradually until the patient is able to complete sessions that are 45 minutes or an hour long.
- If the patient can master the easy level or can hit 90% of the notes perfectly, he or she can move onto the next difficulty level.
The main goal is to constantly challenge the brain to help it rewire itself and have the stimulus it needs to recover. As the patient’s MusicGlove skills are improved, the patient should take it up a notch and try harder songs. Always focus on getting better – consistency and repetition are the keys to attain full recovery. Two tips to increase the effectiveness of MusicGlove include:
- Follow a regular schedule
- Pick a specific time each day to do rehab exercises until it routinely becomes a part of your loved one’s day.
To give you a demonstration on how MusicGlove works, take a look at this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM-2L7028TA
Who is MusicGlove For?
MusicGlove has been used to effectively rehabilitate the following conditions:
- Stroke
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Spinal Cord Injury
- Developmental Disability
- Cerebral Palsy
- Neurologic and Muscular Injury
MusicGlove has helped thousands of stroke survivors all over the world. Its users reported that they regained the ability to perform simple day-to-day tasks with their hands such as buttoning a button, brushing their teeth, and opening doors. These are significant improvements for people who actually thought they’s be paralyzed for the rest of their lives.
You can purchase a MusicGlove for your loved one here, starting at $349. Their 30-day return policy, free shipping within the US, one year warranty, and customer support (you can call 1-800-593-5468) ensures that you get the most out of your purchase.
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