Staying in Motion After a Stroke: A Growing Number of Technologies Can Provide a Range of Options to Help Stroke Survivors Get Moving Again

After suffering a stroke-perhaps a blood clot gets lodged in the brain or a blood vessel near the brain bursts-a person may suddenly not be able to hear, talk, or see. He or she might have trouble walking or exhibit a speech impediment. In fact, one of the greatest challenges of treating patients affected by stroke is that it's a heterogeneous condition, says Joel Stein, a physiatrist specializing in physical medicine and rehabilitation at Columbia University and Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City (Figure 1). "It can affect any area of the brain," he explains. "There are large and small strokes. There are strokes that bleed into the brain, or block blood vessels, so it's reasonable to believe that the recovery and treatment may not be the same for all these types of strokes."