ALBERT CESARE|ODESSA AMERICAN

Trapper O'Connell, left, Medical Center Hospital sports medicine program manager, helps Charles Hildebrand, center, while he takes a balance test on the NeuroCom VSR Sport machine as his wife Leona Hildebrand, right, waits Thursday at Mission Fitness. Hildebrand suffered a stroke in 2006 that effected his mobility.

New MCH technology could benefit athletes, stroke patients

November 11, 2011 10:10 PM

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BY GABRIELLA LOPEZ

A new piece of technology is bringing balance to the residents of the Permian Basin.

The NeuroCom VSR SPORT was purchased for $15,000 and arrived about a week and a half ago and is the only one of its kind in the Permian Basin, Sports Medicine Program Manager Trapper O’Connell said.

While the intended purpose is athletic, the technology has wide-reaching uses.

It can take data about a person’s balance to create a baseline, O’Connell said, and can then show how a person’s weight is balanced at different degrees so that they can work to improve their balance.

With concussions being a concern among athletes, O’Connell said they plan on using the machine to create a baseline with athletes in case of a concussion or to better help athletes who have already sustained a concussion.

“We can take this out (to the school),” O’Connell said. “It’s got portability.”

Before, coaches and sports medicine experts could only use subjective analysis of whether athletes were ready to go back to their sport, O’Connell said.

“A lot of ‘can you stand,’ ‘can you stand on this foot,’ ” O’Connell said.

The NeuroCom VSR SPORT provides specific objective data, O’Connell said.

When it comes to new technology, particularly related to health, Ector County Independent School District Athletic Director Todd Vesely said the district is open to learning about new options.

Whether the VSR SPORT is adopted by the school district or not, Medical Center Hospital will.

Charles Hildebrand, a Center for Health and Wellness patient, uses the VSR SPORT to strengthen his body and improve his balance.

“He needs to connect muscle with brain cells,” Charles Hildebrand’s wife Leona Hildebrand said.

Charles Hildebrand had been making progress with physical therapy following a stroke in 2006, Leona Hildebrand said.

But after being hospitalized during the summer, Leona Hildebrand said he regressed and came to the center for therapy.

In addition to aquatic therapy the new technology was also used to help Charles Hildebrand.

One of the exercises had Charles Hildebrand shifting his balance to move a virtual ball on the machine’s laptop screen, physical therapy aid Sylvia Menefee said.

While general baselines can be established for different age groups, an individual’s ideal balance can vary, O’Connell said.

“Balance is not a grading system,” O’Connell said. “There’s not a gold standard.”