Greying Singapore taps robots, games in rehab新加坡人口老化 藉助機器人和電玩復健

輯譯/黃裕美 |2012.03.18
5611觀看次
字級

Six months ago, Singaporean retiree Soon Eng Sam, 70, suffered a stroke that paralysed the left side of his body. Bedridden for three months, he has regained some limb functions on the affected side through conventional physical therapy but now hopes to hasten his recovery with the help of new gadgets designed to make rehabilitation fun.

半年前,新加坡70歲退休人員孫永盛(譯音)中風後,左半身癱瘓。臥床3個月後,他已透過傳統物理治療,恢復部分受影響的肢體功能,現在則希望藉助那些使復健更有趣的新玩意兒加速復原。

“This therapy is not so boring, not so painful as physical therapy, because the machine is assisting me to move my arm up and down and laterally,” he said after a recent hour-long session with the “Armeo” robotic arm. A therapist had to tell Soon to slow down as the former civil servant enthusiastically used his left hand, partly supported by the robotic arm, to catch virtual water droplets with a teacup on a color monitor.

他最近在接受機械手臂Armeo的1小時療程後說:「這種療法不像物理治療那麼枯燥痛苦,因為機器可以幫助我的手臂上下和水平移動。」原本當公務員的孫永盛,在機械手臂部分支撐下,急著伸出左手,要去拿彩色螢幕上的茶杯接虛擬水滴,治療師甚至得勸他慢慢來。

The machine is among the high-tech exercise stations now being used at the Center for Advanced Rehabilitation Therapeutics (CART), described by its administrators as the most advanced facility of its kind in Asia.

這部儀器是「先進科技康復中心」目前所使用的高科技運動器材之一,據該中心主管表示,這是亞洲同類設施中最先進的。

Medical authorities are deploying the latest technology as fast-greying Singapore prepares for a “silver tsunami” of elderly people as a result of longer life spans and low birth rates.

壽命延長加上出生率低,使老年人口快速老化的新加坡,醫療主管部門正在部署最新型科技,為「銀髮海嘯」未雨綢繆。

In two decades, an estimated 20 percent of the population will be 65 years or older, compared to 9.3 percent at present.

在20年內,估計有20%新加坡人將超過65歲,相形之下,目前約為9.3%。

To better prepare themselves for the demographic explosion, hospitals in the affluent city-state of five million people are using the latest available technology to augment its limited pool of health personnel.

為了替這個年齡層爆炸性成長做好準備,這個總人口有500萬的富裕城邦,醫院正使用最新技術,來強化數量有限的醫療保健人員。

Chan Kay Fei, head of Rehabilitation Medicine at the government-run Tan Tock Seng Hospital, which houses CART, said therapists on their own “cannot meet this rising need of the aging population”.

「先進科技康復中心」是公立陳篤生醫院附設單位,該院康復醫學部主管陳凱飛(譯音)表示,光靠物理治療師「不能滿足人口老化日益殷切的需求。」

“So technology, I feel, could be the multiplier,” Chan said, adding that both therapists and patients benefit from the increasing use of robotic equipment and videogame-inspired software. “Robotics reduce or eliminate physical loading upon our therapists. It creates an interesting and interactive environment which offers consistency and objectivity to the treatment program,” he said.

「因此,我覺得科技可以事半功倍。」陳凱飛說,他並且強調,多使用機器設備和電玩遊戲軟體,治療師和病人同蒙其利。他說:「機器人可以減少或消除治療師的體力負荷,並創造一個有趣和互動的環境,提供治療計畫的一貫性和客觀性。」

Using the machines, therapists are able to precisely monitor the patient's progress and calibrate the machines accordingly.

使用機器輔助,物理治療師可以精確監測病人的進展,並據此校準機器。

Such machines are particularly suited for countries with rapidly aging populations, said Bala Rajaratnam, a lecturer at the School of Health Sciences at Nanyang Polytechnic.“It allows therapists to use smart technology to both empower clients to take control over their recovery as well as maximize therapy time,” he said.

新加坡南洋理工學院健康科學院講師巴拉.拉惹勒南說,這類機器特別適合人口迅速老化的國家。他說,「它讓治療師得以使用智能科技,同時幫助病患控制他們的復健,並將治療時間拉到最大限度。」

Younger patients, including accident victims and those with congenital motor problems, also benefit from therapy robots and videogames.

年輕患者,包括意外事故受害人和那些患有先天性運動神經問題者,也可受惠於醫療用的機器人和電子遊戲。

Kankipati Rajan Raju, 45, an Indian banker who was paralyzed from the neck down after being hit by a bus during a business trip to France in May, said technology is a boon to people like him but the human factor is still more crucial than machines.

印度45歲的銀行家拉詹拉竹,去年5月到法國出差期間被巴士撞倒後,頸部以下癱瘓,他表示,科技對像他這種病患是一大福音,但人的因素仍然比機器重要。

Six months after the accident, Raju can walk on his own, shake hands and even do short jumps, a “miracle” he attributes to medical personnel as well as a healthy dose of robotics and virtual reality.“The technology assists you, but the therapists have made the difference,” he said after a session at CART.

拉竹在事發後6個月已經可以自己行走、握手,甚至短暫跳躍,這個「奇蹟」,他歸功於醫務人員和健康劑量的機器人和虛擬實境之助。他在「先進科技康復中心」做完療程後說,「儀器可以幫助你,但影響最大的還是物理治療師。」

Singapore hospitals are well-known for modern equipment and expertise, but they are taking it one step further by combining robotics with virtual reality to make therapy more efficient and less painful, even fun.

新加坡醫院以現代化設備和專業知識知名,但他們正進一步結合機器人與虛擬實境,使治療更有效並減少痛苦,甚至更有趣。



熱門新聞
訂閱電子報
台北市 天氣預報   台灣一週天氣預報
相關報導

《人間福報》是一份多元化的報紙,不單只有報導佛教新聞,乃以推動祥和社會、淨化人心為職志,以關懷人類福祉、追求世界和平為宗旨,堅持新聞的準度與速度、廣度與深度,關懷弱勢族群與公益;強調內容溫馨、健康、益智、環保,不八卦、不加料、不阿諛,希冀藉由優質的內涵,體貼大眾身心靈的需要、關懷地球永續經營、延續宇宙無窮慧命,是一份承擔社會責任的報紙。自許成為「社會的一道光明」的《人間福報》任重而道遠,在秉持創辦人星雲大師「傳播人間善因善緣」的理念之際,更將堅持為社會注入清流,讓福報的發行為人間帶來祥和歡喜,具體實現「人間有福報,福報滿人間」的目標。
人間福報社股份有限公司 統編:70470026

 
聯絡我們 隱私權條款

Copyright © 2000-2024 人間福報 www.merit-times.com.tw
All Rights Reserved.