At AKTIOS Medical Rehabilitation Center, our focus is to provide innovative treatment programs, delivered through Consultant led rehabilitation teams, to support each person, in partnership with their family or carers, to adjust to their injury or illness and to maximize their independence and quality of life. One major distinction is the strong collaboration between neurologists and rehabilitation specialists as soon as patients are admitted or for chronic cases too.
Our new department applies the new protocols based on Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
Protocol of Aphasia and Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
At the turn of this century, a new form of non-invasive brain stimulation emerged in the field of stroke recovery, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS).Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a form of non-invasive brain stimulation originally studied for its effect on motor limb physiology, has been investigated for its use in the treatment of aphasia since 2008. It has been explored in stroke rehabilitation as a method for encouraging brain plasticity, with results often lasting beyond the initial period of stimulation. tDCS also has the advantage of being portable, with built-in sham control, making it suitable for clinical experimentation during behavioral therapies.
Protocol of Post-stroke fatigue
Fatigue is one of the most reported symptoms post-stroke, which has a severe impact on the quality of life. Post-stroke fatigue is associated with reduced motor cortical excitability, specifically of the affected hemisphere. There was also a significant change in motor cortex neurophysiology of the affected hemisphere and perceived effort, a week after stimulation. The degree of improvement in fatigue was associated with baseline anxiety levels. Sessions of tDCS improves fatigue symptoms with the effect lasting up to a week post stimulation. tDCS may therefore be a useful tool for managing fatigue symptoms post-stroke.
Protocol of upper limb
Upper limb functional training and transcranial direct current stimulation improved the function and frequency of use of the paralyzed hand in a stroke patient with severe upper limb paralysis, suggesting that this combined intervention could effectively improve hand function in patients with severe upper limb paralysis. Therefore, the use of tDCS along with the current approach of upper limb functional training could effectively improve hand function in patients with severe upper limb paralysis and may be a useful intervention strategy.