James hi,
We have one Emego switch currently being used by one of our patients and 2 more on order. The gentleman who is currently using it is quite happy with the switch. It seems to be reliable.
We did use it with another patient with MND and the results were not great, not because of the switch's fault but because of MND causing this patient's muscles to be very "noisy" in terms of EMG. This is common with MND patients and as a matter of fact, the presence of a "noisy" EMG signal is also used as a way of diagnosing the disease. MND diagnosis is a long process and it involves eliminating other causes before concluding it is MND. Here at our hospital at some stage of the process, an EMG signal test is performed to see if there is noise which indicates the presence of MND. With this second patient it was impossible to achieve a clear peak in the signal that could be used for switch access, regardless of an obvious (even though it was weak) movement of the arm. (using mechanical switches was not an option for other reasons, which would not not relevant to mention here)
We are however about to have another patient using the Emego switch and this may become a star user for Emego. This is somebody with no limb function and limited head and neck movement who is able to control his eyebrows independently from one another. We are going to issue one Emego switch with two transmitters, mounted on a strap so that one transmitter is located above each of the eyebrows. The project requires the adaptation of the Emego transmitter strap so it can hold two units (that is where my overlooked sawing skills come into the equation!!!) but we did try it and he was surprisingly efficient with it. We did spend some time identifying the right distance between the transmitter so that the patient could activate them independently. The switch also seemed to be coping well with the double input/output.
Personally I like the ease of use of the switch and the ease of setting it up with the software.
I hope this helps
Christos Christoforidis
Clinical Technologist
Environmental Control Service for Dorset, Hampshire and IOW
Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
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