Nice: The Rossetti Institute for Motor Skills Development

From assessment to rehabilitation, the IEM Rossetti is a centre with the latest equipment for children and adults suffering from a motor disability.

In less than 10 years, virtual reality has established itself as a major new therapeutic tool, not only in medicine and surgery but also in the field of psychological problems and the rehabilitation of the disabled.

The Rossetti Institute in Nice, managed by the "Pupilles de l’Enseignement Public des Alpes-Maritimes – PEP 06" association has elected to make virtual rehabilitation central to its motor disability care and is at the forefront of innovation in Europe in terms of a dedicated technical platform.

Thus, V-GAIT, an interactive rehabilitation system for balance and walking in a virtual reality environment was recently unveiled in June 2012. This equipment uses analysis and friendly and stimulating coaching to improve the pathological walking patterns of patients suffering from neurological, orthopaedic and musculoskeletal disorders or problems related to old age, such as an increased risk of falls. It consists of a double treadmill fitted with instruments, a motion capture system and a virtual reality environment, linked to 3 cameras, a 180° screen and an EMG system.

V-GAIT represents a €500,000 investment, over 70% of which was funded by the Alpes-Maritimes Departemental Council as part of the Health 2012 call for proposals.

V-GAIT is another piece of equipment on an exceptional technical platform largely financed by the Departemental Council, which makes the Rossetti Institute a recognised centre of excellence in the medical care of motor disability:

-        The clinical motion analysis unit: a quantified motion analysis system to study the kinematics and kinetics of walking in relation to muscular activity, and a metrological locomotion analysis system to evaluate the risk of falls.

-        EOS: a three-dimensional imaging system produced from works by Prof. Charpak, Nobel Prize winner for Physics. EOS reduces X-ray doses by 10, takes pictures (front and profile) in a standing or seated position and presents a 3D reconstruction of the back and lower limbs.

-        LOKOMAT: a rehabilitation robot for walking on a treadmill, for child and adult patients with walking difficulties, spinal deformities or disorders in upper limb movement.

The next challenge for the Rossetti Institute will be the successful pairing of the EOS system and the movement analysis system to provide a 3D reproduction of the spine when analysing a patient's walk.

En savoir plus : www.centredesante-pep06.fr/ actu/ actu7.html