Study: New Robot for Heart Attack Victims Helps Speed Recovery

Published June 7th, 2000 - 03:00 GMT

A new robot device developed in the United States is helping heart attack patients regain their mobility faster, according to a new study published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

As many as 56 percent of the patients who participated in the study and used the MIT-Manus robot on a daily basis improved twice as fast than those who used it only once a week, MIT announced Tuesday.

Of the 700,000 Americans who suffer from heart attacks every year, 500,000 need to learn again how to walk and speak.

The robot analyzes patients' movements, allowing them to make better use of their exercises.

"We don't want to replace human therapists," said Neville Hogan, who led the team that created MIT-Manus. "Rather, we'd like to provide a tool to increase their productivity" -- NEW YORK (AFP)