K - SET METHOD
K – SET method is a new approach for rehabilitation in craniocerebral and spinal cord injuries, as well as for neurological conditions, including stroke and cerebral palsy. It is designed for people with a wide range of physical impairments based on Brain plasticity conception.
Introduction
The effectiveness of the current approach for the rehabilitation of people affected by a wide range of physical impairments is limited. This is because the methodology applied was conceived a long time ago and without the evidence from innovative research of brain plasticity. For this reason, people with the aforementioned disabilities didn’t see fast or appreciable results. Clearly, there was a need to reassess and improve rehabilitation practices.
Brain Plasticity and K – SET Method
Brain plasticity is the ability of the brain and nervous system to change structurally and functionally in response to experience. Plasticity occurs on the level of cellular changes and changes involved in cortical remapping. The most widely recognized forms of plasticity are learning, memory, and recovery from brain damage. During most of the 20th century, the general consensus among neuroscientists, as well as popular belief, was that the brain structures become fixed and cannot change past early childhood.
The only changes deemed possible were the loss of connections and function over time. Decades of research done by thousands of neuro scientists has shown that the brain can change itself. Recent studies done with rats close to the end of their life demonstrated how negative changes that are attributable to normal aging such as loss of strength, dexterity, perceptual acuity, and more, were reversed through training.
The brains of infants and children are extremely changeable, as needed, to form all the brain patterns associated with voluntary action. Their brains are constantly expanding and mapping new territory. The science of brain plasticity shows how, under the right conditions, the adult brain can also restructure itself in remarkable ways. Even the birth of new brain cells can occur in adults, as well as children, something believed impossible not too long ago.
Depending on how you live and act, neural connections in the brain are either constantly being created or deleted. The more non-automatic, non-habitual and non-rigid your thinking, movement and activities are, the less your brain will tend to deteriorate and the less likely you are to experience pain, limitation, boredom, malaise and even depression. If neural pathways are not used they actually die-off in a process called “synaptic-pruning.” Most adult brains reflect a lot of pruning as people settle into habitual living patterns.
The good news is that we now know many mechanisms that drive the brain to change, both for the better and for the worse. Studies show that different forms of exercise induce neuroplasticity changes in different brain regions. In addition to the normal rehabilitation benefits of exercise, correct Exercise with Kinisiforo can encourage positively and targeted effects on the brain and further enhance the body’s ability to heal itself.
With the K-SET Method we understand that the underlying process leading to growth and improvement of brain functioning, and with it the improvement in skills and well-being, is the continued process of differentiation, refinement and increased complexity in the brain. With this method we don’t just try to change behavior, but we help upgrade the functioning of the brain itself to become a more skilled brain. With a better, stronger brain positive changes occur in all aspects that otherwise may not be possible, both for adults and for children.
The Kinisiforo System of Elliptical Training forms the core of the K-SET Method. Each of the following seven parameters describes one of the brain’s requirements for waking up and doing its job well. That is, creating new connections and avoiding rigidity and force automaticity when needing to overcome exercise limitation to thus reach new levels of physical and cognitive performance. Validated by modern science’s latest discoveries in the area of brain plasticity - the brain’s ability to change and grow new neurological pathways and connections throughout life.
The K-SET method is an innovating rehabilitation approach that is based on the science of brain plasticity.
In the last decade, neuroscience researches and has given us considerable evidence that the adult brain can undergo significant reorganization after injury through a variety of molecular, genetic, physiological and anatomical factors.
Through the exercise protocol of brain plasticity we can see that to achieve the creation of a new neuron connection (refer to neuron synapse) we must take into account the following seven parameters:
1. Frequent repetition of movement (speed).
2. Frequent repetition of Sessions (intensive course Or maintained course.
3. Joint Angle of movement. (in respect to Spasticity)
4. Intensity of movement (weight bearing or Pressure +/-) Pull or Push.
5. Avoid shock absorption and redundancy.
6. Virtual Reality environment during movement
(attention during movement +/- promote the automaticity)
7. Variation of Exercise (Strictly individual Program according to K-SET Method
Through the KinisiForo System we can simultaneously apply all the above parameters. This gives the opportunity to the brain to create a new neuron connection for a particular elliptical motion that resembles walking. The K-SET method offers you concrete, effective, and immediate ways to easily tap into the brain’s enormous potential the brain becomes over active leading to breakthroughs in movement abilities and peak performance.
K- SET method Indications
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Rehabilitation after stroke
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Brain injuries
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Spinal cord injuries
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Cerebral palsy (children and adults)
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Multiple sclerosis
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Parkinson disease
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Neuromuscular disorders
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Post-polio syndrome
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Ataxia and discoordinated movements
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Balance disorders
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People with visual or audio, lingual disorders.
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Postoperative rehabilitation
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Act as a tool for cardiovascular endurance test (stress test) or Vo2Max for people with different motor impairments or elite athletes.
What are the effects of K- SET method?
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Improves movement coordination and gait
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Regulates muscle tone
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Reduces muscle spasm and spasticity
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Increases muscle strength (even if low or absent)
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Simultaneously exercises upper, and lower extremities
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as well as torso muscles
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Increases endurance to exercise
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Improves oxygen uptake
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Increases range of motion in all articulations
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Keeps all joints agile and flexible
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Compensates right - left deficits
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Improves balance
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Reduces pain due to muscle immobility
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Reduces ataxia
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Reduces constipation
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Improves self-esteem
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Improves visual and sensory perception
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Improves reaction time
K - SET method consists of :
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Evaluation and assessment according to K-SET method protocol
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Gait and motion analysis based on K-SET TEST
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Designed an individual rehabilitation program based on client need and K-SET method protocol
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Warm up and Stretching the upper and lower extremities, as well torso according to K-SET method protocol and perception.
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Simulation and imagination of elliptical motion or gait or other slow motion exercise (start passive and progressively go active with simple motion but with many variations)
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Passive mode on Kinisiforo
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Combined passive and active mode on Kinisiforo
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Active mode on Kinisiforo
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Vibro massage and break
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Balance exercises on Kinisiforo using different type of skate
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Coordination exercise on Kinisiforo using different touch equipment
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Strengthening exercise on Kinisiforo with spring or elastic band
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Games with ball
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Breathing exercise in standing position on KinisiForo
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Gait training
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Rest and patient self evaluation.
Duration of the program is approximately 1 to 3 hours, however it depends on the client needs and body physique.
