Can I Benefit from Tailwind?

Tailwind is a new research-backed exercise device allowing stroke survivors and other brain injured people to improve arm function and range of motion.
To use Tailwind effectively takes effort. To qualify to use it the most important question to ask is: Do you have some forward movement at your shoulder?
Starting with your affected (weaker) arm at your side, can you swing your arm forward 3 inches from the shoulder?
If you can answer “yes” to this question, Tailwind could help you improve your arm movement.
As with any exercise program, ask your healthcare professional to make sure that you are ready for a home exercise program.

Who are Anatomical Concepts (UK) - We are Masters of Rehabilitation Engineering. Working with private individuals, healthcare professionals, businesses and the NHS since 1996.

Introducing Tailwind

Here you can learn about Tailwind^™, a unique device that clinical studies have demonstrated can permanently improve arm movement in stroke patients who have lost upper extremity function - even years after their stroke event. The device is also helpful in improving arm function following brain injury, tumor and cerebral palsy. Tailwind is a home-based exercise device developed by researchers at the University of Maryland Medical School.

Effective for Stroke Survivors

Tailwind consists of two handles that move along independent resistance-free tracks. The user moves the handles along each track from different starting marks - and has auditory cues to guide when to move his or her arms. It is a "sound-to-brain" neural pathway retraining approach that is theorised to help users with mild stroke symptoms achieve life-altering results.

First of a Kind for Stroke

Tailwind has been demonstrated in clinical studies to permanently improve arm movement in stroke patients who have lost upper extremity function. In published clinical studies, the science behind Tailwind was found to be a potentially useful solution in stroke rehabilitation. So don't let discouragement from years of rehab that did not deliver the results you wanted prevent you from trying new Tailwind. If you have the motivation to work with this device, research suggests it will work for you.

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Grasp the idea quickly!

We have in place videos that will give a quick overview of Tailwind.
Learn about the research behind Tailwind, hear from the developers and see it in use by clients.
A second video shows the training and setup process in more detail.
Select MEDIA from the PRODUCT Menu or click here to start.

Tailwind - BATRAC

An exercise device proven to improve arm movement in stroke survivors in as little as 6 weeks.
Based on the BATRAC technique

Rehabilitation
in your own hands

Arm exercise product for Stroke Survivors

Symposium will review evidence

An upcoming Symposium at December's UK Stroke Forum Meeting, supported by Anatomical Concepts (UK), will review the state of the art in arm rehabilitation for severely affected stroke survivors.

Following a stroke, being able to regain use of an affected arm and hand again is often a personal priority for individuals. Sadly, many stroke survivors feel they receive very little or no attention from their clinicians for this problem. There are a number of reasons for this. One is a belief by some clinicians that very little can help. Research however is much more favourable.

A Quick Intro to Tailwind

New Stroke Management Guidelines Published

SIGN 118 Management of patients with stroke has been published today Tuesday 1st June. The full guideline and quick reference guide in PDF format is attached but can also be viewed through the following link http://www.sign.ac.uk/guidelines/fulltext/118/index.html. A full summary of the recommendations in Word format will also be available on the website shortly.

Research on finding the best therapies

Research, published in the Annals of Neurology, is the first step in a multiyear project assessing how to predict how well people will recover from stroke.

After a stroke, the brain suffers more broadly than just at the spot that was starved of blood. New research, which uses brain imaging to examine connections between different parts of the brain, shows that communication between the left and right hemispheres is often disrupted; the greater the disruption, the more profound the patient's impairment in movement or vision. Researchers hope to use the approach to predict which patients are mostly likely to recover on their own and which will need the most intensive therapy. Researchers will repeat the brain scanning and behavioral testing months after the patients' strokes to see how both change over time.

Why Exercise after Stroke?

The leading causes of mortality in stroke survivors are cardiovascular disease and recurrent stroke. However, physical activity decreases the risk factors associated with those two outcomes.

Psychosocial factors also affect stroke survivors depending on the subsequent degree of disability. These and other factors can lead to post-stroke depression, the incidence of which ranges from 18 to 68 percent.

The Tailwind Story - University of Maryland

In life – and in science especially – there are sometimes happy accidents, turns in the road you don’t expect but which lead in exciting directions. Such was the case with Jill Whitall, PhD, professor, and Sandra McCombe-Waller, PT, PhD, associate professor, whose research into a bilateral arm rehabilitation device unexpectedly brought them a patented product and a whirlwind of attention.