Dr. med. Andreas Meyer-Heim

 

Main Goals, Keywords

• To enhance the development of sensorimotor learning programs and techniques for children and adolescents with central movement disorders.
• To investigate and evaluate feasibility and effectivity of new as well as conventional means of therapy and assessment in paediatric rehabilitation.

Group Members

1 consultant paediatrician, 1 Ph.D. student, 2 scientific co-workers, 1-2 master students Human movement sciences ETHZ

Previous and Current Research

• Projects with the paediatric robotic gait orthosis Lokomat in children with central gait impairments:

PeLoBASE: multicentric database for the investigation of treatment outcomes after robot-assisted locomotion training

PeLoViR: create and evaluate a child-friendly augmented biofeedback system and virtual environment in which the patients are able to - practise their therapeutic goals while walking with the pediatric Lokomat

PeLoClinics: various multicentric studies of the interest group pediatric Lokomat in
order to investigate outcomes after robotic assisted gait training in children with central gait impairments

PeLoTool: evaluation of the assessment tools implemented in the pediatric driven gait orthosis Lokomat

• Virtual Reality based Paediatric Interactive Therapy System (PITS)
• Constraint Induced Movement Therapy (CIMT)
• Effectivity of hippotherapy
• Gallileo - Effectivity

For a more detailed description of our research projects please visit our homepage (URL indicated below).

Future Projects

continue of multicentric and international effectivity studies development of a child-friendly, “holistic” therapy approach with combination of computer-assisted (VR) therapy systems for upper and lower extremities and integration of biofeedback systems.

Techniques and Equipment

Services for in- and outpatient Rehabilitation of children and adolescents (Rehabilitation centre Affoltern am Albis, 50 beds, CA Dr. med. B. Knecht) including facilities for physio-, occupational,-, speech- and language- and sports-therapy.
GMFM-66, modified Ashworth, 6MWT, 10MWT, etc., pediatric and adult module of Lokomat and implemented assessment Tools, PITS (paediatric interactive therapy system), 2D-motion video gait analysis (Dartfish), step monitors, neuropsychological assessments, PeLoBASE, MRI facilities at University Children’s Hospital Zurich.

Selected Publications

• Brütsch, K., Schuler, T., Koenig, A., Zimmerli, L., Koeneke, S.M., Lünenburger, L., Riener, R., Jäncke, L., Meyer-Heim, A. Influence of virtual reality soccer game on walking performance in robotic assisted gait training for children. J Neuroeng Rehabil. Apr 22; 7: 15 (2010).
• Borggraefe, I., Klaiber, M., Schuler, T., Warken, B., Schroeder, S.A., Heinen, F., Meyer-Heim, A. Safety of robotic-assisted treadmill therapy in children and adolescents with gait impairment: a bi-centre survey. Dev Neurorehabil.  13(2): 114-9 (2010).
• Borggraefe, I., Schaefer, J.S., Klaiber, M., Dabrowski, E., Ammann-Reiffer, C., Knecht, B., Berweck, S., Heinen, F., Meyer-Heim, A. Robotic-assisted treadmill therapy improves walking and standing performance in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy. Eur J Paediatr Neurol. 2010 Feb 5 (2010).
  

Funding

Stiftung Cerebral (Schweizerische Stiftung für das cerebralgelähmte Kind), Cramer Stiftung Zürich, Vontobel Stiftung Zürich, Forschungskredit UBS Donation “by order of a client” (Kinderspital Zürich), LEGO Schweiz, CS Jubiläums Stiftung, Kispi Ball Donation 2005.

URL

http://www.kispi.uzh.ch/af/Rehabilitationszentrum_de.html