The robots helping Hungarian patients walk again

Three years ago, a stroke changed Peter Klinda's life.

For decades, the Lake Balaton windsurf instructor had lived on the water. Balance was part of his job. Then one summer night, everything changed.

"It was a summer's day like any other," he tells CGTN. "I got up from bed at night and collapsed, I just couldn't control my limbs. Fortunately, I wasn't alone, and my partner called an ambulance straight away."

Klinda survived. Months of therapy helped him speak again. Walking and balance took longer to recover.

"I used to cycle, run and swim regularly, and after leaving the hospital I started doing rehab exercises and testing myself, one activity at a time, to see what I could do again."

Today, Klinda is back on his board at Lake Balaton. He says he wishes he had access to the technology now helping patients at the University of Szeged.

Inside the Human Kinesiology Laboratory, robotic systems are used to help patients recover from strokes, brain injuries and spinal cord trauma. Specialists say the center has become one of the most advanced rehabilitation facilities in Central Europe.

"These devices are very good because they can provide a wide range of therapeutic methods," says Dr. Gabor Fazekas, chair of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine. "So we can always adapt it to the patient's functional status. It means first the patient can start to move with a robotic device like the one in the background. 

"Later, if the patient can work without a robotic support, he can move to another device which is in the other part of this room. And also the level of the difficulty of the tasks can be increased if the patient improves."

Some machines focus on walking and balance. Others help restore movement in the arms and hands. Therapists adjust each session to the needs of the patient.

"We use the system to guide patients through walking exercises. We can adjust stride length, step width, walking speed and even shoe size, tailoring each session to the needs of the patient," a physiotherapist says.

Doctors say the robots do not replace therapists. They provide another tool.

The laboratory also trains students and works with specialists in Romania. Researchers plan to present findings from the program later this year.

"I think the next step of development will be the application of AI, it can be used for choosing the best therapy for a certain patient, it can help the therapist to choose the best way and for data processing for scientific purposes. I think AI will help us a lot," Fazekas says.

For Klinda, recovery goes beyond technology.

"People should draw on the things they loved before the stroke. Those hobbies and experiences can help guide you back to the life you knew."

For patients in Szeged, the goal is simple: return to the lives they once knew. For Klinda, that means getting back to the wind, the water and the sport he loves.