Scientists, engineers and clinicians came together at the Pediatric Neurorehabilitation Symposium (PNRS) 2013 to discuss new technologies, the application of virtual environments and research in cerebral palsy and other neurological disorders in children. International speakers from Chile, Mexico, United States and Switzerland and more than 100 participants specialized in pediatric neurorehabilitation agreed on the important role of advanced technology in this field.
The Pediatric Neurorehabilitation Symposium 2013 that was organized by RIC, the International Organization of Telethons (Oritel) and the Swiss medical technology company Hocoma, focused on advanced treatment modalities and offered a better understanding about key principles in motor learning and neural plasticity. Furthermore the participants had the opportunity to visit with leading companies and manufacturers in the neurorehabilitation industry, attend hands-on workshops, interest group meetings and tour the prestigious RIC facility which is one of the top providers of comprehensive physical medicine and rehabilitation care to patients from around the world.
Everybody was in agreement that the clinical application of advanced technology is not yet fully understood and Veronica Rattin, Executive Director from Oritel, which unites the Telethons of 12 Latin American countries and a network of more than 150 rehabilitation centers, acknowledged the importance of sharing clinical best practice guidelines. “Currently we are experiencing a very exciting area in pediatric neurorehabilitation where technology and the combination of various treatment modalities offers exciting opportunities,“ said Dr. Deborah Gaebler-Spira, conference co-organizer and Director of the Cerebral Palsy and Early Intervention Program at RIC. „We believe this conference provided important insights about the use of advanced technology to treat children with neurological impairments,“ summarized conference co-organizer Stefan Bircher, PhD, Executive Vice President of Hocoma.