We have known for decades that functional, electrically stimulated (FES) cycle training such as with the RehaMove FES bike can improve the cardiorespiratory fitness of spinal cord injured persons and others with neurological conditions such as MS, Parkinsons or recovering from a stroke. This is a massive benefit for long term health and fitness but what clients tend to notice is that their muscles get bigger - and that’s not a bad thing either.

We recently put together a Pilot “FES Cycling Tune Up Course” which is free for our clients who get an access code from us. The aim is to give more in-depth information on the background science as well as how to programme the RehaMove FES Cycling system for optimal usage.

Being resilient is a great quality to gain. Improving and maintaining our fitness is important for all of us. If you are disabled and have limited mobility, keeping fit and active can feel much more difficult, but it doesn't have to be this way. In any case, keeping fit has a big pay off when it comes to gaining quality of life for the long term. You can look upon exercise as the best medicine - so how do we get it?

We threatened to offer additional training on our RehaMove FES system and the principles and practice of FES last year- but it didn’t quite make it to the top of our action list. We are now looking again at piloting an on-line course for clients and partners if we get a positive response.

We are seeing a number of virtual reality applications in rehabilitation as ideas from the gaming world spill over into rehab. But how about technology from rehab finding it's way into gaming?

A paper by Lopes et al describes how researchers from the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam Germany have been exploring how to add haptics to walls and other heavy objects in virtual worlds by using FES (Functional Electrical Stimulation).  When you think about it, a "sense of feeling" is normally missing from these virtual worlds - FES is one way of providing this sense.

Denervated muscles require a different electrotherapy protocol to "conventional" FES but research has shown that technology such as the Stimulette Den2x from Dr Schuhfried can reverse the loss of tissue bulk and quality that results from a denervation injury.  Restoring tissue in this way can reduce the risk of pressure sores, improve circulation and dramatically improve appearance.