Now, computer game to aid recovery from stroke

Scientists at Newcastle University have designed a computer game to help stroke victims recuperate.

The Circus Challenge game, created with a computer game studio, aims to help patients recover motor functions.

Players use wireless controllers to perform virtual circus acts such as lion taming and plate spinning.

It is hoped the PC-based game will serve as a cheaper and more effective alternative to existing treatments, with patients able to play at home.

The project received a £1.5 million grant from the Health Innovation Challenge Fund, a partnership between the Wellcome Trust and the Department of Health, to allow further development.

Janet Eyre, Professor of Paediatric Neuroscience at Newcastle University, said the game would help meet the shortfall of trained therapists who stroke victims must normally work with on a frequent basis as part of their rehabilitation.

“With our video game, people get engrossed in the competition and action of the circus characters and forget that the purpose of the game is for therapy,” the BBC quoted Eyre as saying.

Professor Dame Sally Davies, chief medical officer and chief medical advisor at the Department of Health, said the newly developed technology was a “remarkable innovation in the NHS”.

“The government is committed to supporting such work and bringing breakthroughs from every area — even video gaming — to the front line of patient care,” she said.

Circus Challenge becomes more difficult as players gain more strength as their recovery progresses. The tasks require both gross and fine motor skills and can be performed by people in wheelchairs.

About 80 percent of stroke patients do not fully regain their arm and hand functions, however it is hoped there will be some improvement on this figure as patients are able to continue their rehabilitation at home.