Continuous progress in medical science has been helping people to live longer, and advances in other areas are helping them to live better.

New technology in robotics and prosthetics has revolutionized the quality of life for many amputees, while specialized wheelchairs and other assisting devices have opened new worlds for the severely disabled, said Teresa Hoffman, director of rehabilitation services at Memorial Medical Center.  

“In rehabilitation, it’s all about living an independent life beyond the responsibility of caregivers and family,” Hoffman said.

Inspiration from Heather Mills’ “Dancing with the Stars” performance with an artificial leg has brought new attention to the specialized field of prosthetics. Mills owns several prosthetic legs for different activities, Hoffman noted.

Double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius showed how far the technology has come when he was denied a spot on the Olympic team for being too fast. The International Association of Athletics FederationsOK ruled that Pistorius’ use of carbon-fiber prosthetic feet is unfair because the “mechanical advantage of the blade in relation to the healthy ankle joint of an able-bodied athlete is higher than 30 percent.”

Interchangeable prosthetics allow amputees to ski, run, dance or participate in many other activities.

“It gives them a greater level of independence in the social side of what they want to do,” Hoffman said.

Hoffman is administrator of the Crichton Rehabilitation Center in Memorial’s Lee Campus, 320 Main St. in downtown Johnstown. The Crichton center provides a wide range of physical, occupational and cognitive rehabilitation services for those recovering from strokes, serious injuries and other impairing conditions. Its professionals help fit patients with the best-available technology for individual needs.

“One of the other big improvements has to do with wheelchairs and mobility,” Hoffman said. “They have specialized wheelchairs you can take to the beach, for instance.”

Lightweight materials allow for easy transportation and storage of the chairs, and new motorized wheelchairs are being developed for all types of terrain.

Telemedicine home monitoring technology enables home health-care workers to provide greater independence for more patients, allowing them to remain in their homes, said Chris King of Somerset Hospital’s home health and hospice care department.

“The telemonitor actually gives patients more control over their care,” King said.

Although the telemonitor does not take the place of home nurse visits, it enables the hospital to get a daily update on a patient’s blood pressure, oxygen levels and other vital signs. It also asks the patient a series of questions about his daily health. All results are monitored in the hospital at 225 S. Center Ave.

“It gives us a way to intervene earlier,” King said. “The information gets transmitted every day. If there are complications, we call the patient and ask a series of questions to find out if they are having a problem.

“They may end up going to the emergency room.”

New technology allows Somerset’s home health nurses to do in-home blood-clotting tests with only a finger prick for patients using the blood thinner Coumadin. In the past, a vial of blood was drawn and taken back to the hospital for testing, delaying the results.

Within the Crichton center’s in-patient facility, advances have improved safety for clients and employees, Hoffman said.

“With new technology, we can actually take a patient from a sitting to a standing position with the push of a button,” she said. “The machine does all the lifting for you.”

The new lift can save the employees’ backs and reduce the risk of patient falls.

Numerous devices have been introduced to help stroke and brain-trauma patients regain communication skills and mobility.

The assistive technology field uses cognitive prosthetics to help patients maximize their strengths and compensate for weaknesses. One example is an electronic personal assistant programmed to remind patients of daily tasks and important appointments.

At a higher level, intricate systems allow severely disabled individuals to drive cars and communicate. Switching systems can be adapted so that patients can communicate using virtually any controllable muscle twitch.

“Communication is so important to people,” Hoffman said. “I used to think people wanted to walk. What I’ve learned over the years is the things people most want are to eat and to talk.”

Information technology has brought improvements in several areas of rehabilitative services, she said. In years past, those working in the field often were slow to hear about new trends showing success in other areas. Unless a new employee who had trained at another hospital using the new technology would come in, news of the advances did not get around until they were published in a major journal.

“Today, the Internet helps us keep abreast of any new trends,” Hoffman said. “It’s at our fingertips.”