With the technology transfer at Hacettepe University Faculty of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, the treatment method with ‘bionic clothing’ started to be applied for the first time last July. In the treatment, which is undergoing clinical studies, current was applied to patients suffering from chronic waist and neck disorders and MS patients with electrodes placed on clothing. According to preliminary results, a 70-80 percent improvement was noted in 45 patients who received treatment in 6 months. In addition, it was observed that most of the complaints of patients with fatigue, exhaustion and sleep problems disappeared with this treatment.
‘WE APPLY CURRENT WITH SOFTWARE’
Dean of Hacettepe University Faculty of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Prof. Dr. Özlem Ülger explained that 58 electrodes were placed on the patients and the clothes were made to touch different muscle groups, and she said, “It is an outfit like a jacket on top and tights on the bottom. And after the clothing is adapted to the patient by placing these electrodes right on the muscles, we apply current to our patient with a software.” Our patient stays in this outfit for 1 hour. They can exercise, move or lie down at the same time. But we do not want them to do activities that will trigger waist and neck problems during the day with this outfit. For example, they should not do their housework; but they can do their exercises. After 1 hour, we take it off and “The patient is the first to tell us the difference. He easily states that his pain and complaints have decreased,” he said.
‘WE WANT TO SPREAD THIS TECHNOLOGY’
Prof. Dr. Ülger said that all of the patients who received the treatment had back and neck problems that negatively affected their daily lives and quality of life, and said, “They could not do their daily work due to pain. Their movements were restricted. Most of them had fatigue, exhaustion and sleep problems. And these complaints were almost eliminated with this treatment.” I can say. This garment has been tested on 45 patients and our first results are quite successful. According to our preliminary results, I can say that we have achieved a 70-80 percent improvement in our patients. We are targeting patients with waist-neck problems or those in the MS group. We want it to reach the right target audience and we want to introduce this technology in our country for the benefit of society. “We want to spread it,” he said.
‘SLEEP AND ACTIVITY IMPROVED IN PATIENTS’
Dr. Explaining the method of ‘bionic suit’ treatment, Yasemin Özel Aslıyüce said, “First, we determine the pain intensity of each part of our patient and enter it into the device. The device determines a current for the patient within an algorithm based on this information. Then, we apply this current to our patient through the device. The current lasts approximately 1 hour.” This. Then, we evaluate our patient the next day, 1 week later, 1 month later. We analyze the results by entering the device again. We especially see that our patients get rid of pain complaints in their sleep. And we also evaluate the functional performance of our patients, such as ‘has it become easier for them to do the activities of daily life?’. Sleep “And the activity has significantly improved in our patients,” he said.
Fibromyalgia patient Nebahat Özdemir (58), who received the treatment, said that all her pain from her neck to her toes decreased significantly, and she felt very good and relaxed.
(DHA)
