Tailwind for Stroke takes off in the US - UK Soon

A device invented by researchers at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) to help stroke survivors recover the use of their arms is being launched commercially in February at a meeting of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) in Las Vegas.  The in-home device — originally called Bilateral Arm Trainer with Rhythmic Auditory Cueing (BATRAC) — was co-invented by Jill Whitall and Sandra McCombe-Waller in UMB’s department of physical therapy.  The product will be available in the UK in June from Anatomical Concepts (UK) Ltd.

The university licensed the device to Encore Path, Inc., of Baltimore, which refined the invention into a compact, retractable, and portable device called Tailwind.

It works by bilateral training, as the seated person uses both arms to push and pull handles on separate, unyoked tracks with minimal resistance. The incline of the tracks can be adjusted. 

Tailwind also includes a stabilizing brace for the chest and a metronome to help the patient exercise rhythmically. The invention can mimic natural human physical functions of the upper extremities in a variety of positions, the researchers say. In a clinical study at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, stroke survivors improved their ability to use and control their arm muscles after using the device three times a week for six weeks, and tests revealed new brain activity in response to the therapy.

“The emphasis is on using both sides of the brain when exercising the arm, with a potential of rewiring the brain’s motor control circuitry to assist the movement of the paretic arm,” Whitall explains.

In addition to in-home use, the Tailwind device can be used under the direction of physical and occupational therapists to improve patients’ motor function and control. Kris Appel, founder and president of Encore Path, learned of the UMB technology in 2006 when she was a student in the ACTiVATE program at the school. The program trains women to become entrepreneurs and create start-up companies with inventions from Maryland research institutions and federal agencies. After licensing the device in 2007, Appel engaged Sagentia Inc., an international technology and product development company with headquarters in Fulton, MD, to help redesign the invention into the current Tailwind model.