16 August 2013

Software Suites for Tinnitus, Upper Trapezius Evaluation and Insomnia


Over the years, the BFE has devoted a lot of resources and effort to the creation and adaptation of research, assessment and training methods. We have at least 35 different software suites, big and small, that cover a wide variety of topics. Some are far encompassing, like Dr. Robert McCarthy's Integrative Medicine Suite for starting up a state-of-the-art integrative medicine practice, and others are niche-specific, such as Dr. Catriona Steele's Dysphagia Suite for speech-language pathologists to treat patients with difficulty swallowing.

Getting the word out on all of these packages can obviously be difficult or confusing. Most clients have heard or are familiar with our "big three" - Setting Up For Clinical Success Suite (Thompsons Suite), Optimizing Performance & Health Suite (Sue Wilson Suite) and the ClinicalQ & BrainDryvr Suite (Swingle Suite). The popularity of those methodologies tend to overshadow our smaller, simpler suites. As wonderful as the big three are, they don't completely cover all the clinical bases. There are still many simple, smaller suites that empower a therapist to easily evaluate or treat a specific patient condition.

This post is devoted to a few of the BFE's smaller suites, that can easily be integrated into a clinician's practice as an additional treatment tool. We have included a sample of three below.

Tinnitus Suite
Have any clients that suffer from that persistent background ringing or roaring in their ears? The Neurofeedback for Tinnitus Suite provides a simple treatment methodology for reducing that sensation via neurofeedback training of alpha/delta ratios on several sites of the head. There is the choice between the 30-minute training protocols, based on research, or free-flowing sessions that end whenever the clinician decides. Tinnitus literature, questions and sample data are provided with the software.

Sample Screen from Tinnitus Suite

Upper Trapezius Evaluation Suite
The Upper Trapezius Evaluation Suite provides an excellent, simple evaluation for upper trapezius asymmetry or over-activity with the use of surface electromyography (EMG or sEMG). It's based on research in pain by Susan Middaugh, PhD, and is applicable to clients that suffer from stress-related ailments (back pain, neck pain, tension headaches) or to athletes that need to maximize movement fluidity by avoiding upper body tension (especially golfers and goalies). The automated assessment guides the subject and therapist through 11-minutes of simple movement exercises. At the end, a report is generated with the relevant muscle tension means arranged in a simple table, with norms for objective data interpretation.

Evaluation Report from Upper Trapezius Suite

Sleep Onset Insomnia Suite
Everyone occasionally has trouble getting to sleep. For clients that have more trouble than not, this suite's treatment style would be of help to them. In the Sleep Onset Insomnia suite, Dr. Lothar Niepoth shares his simple method for teaching clients to relax into sleep. Two methods, one for use with surface electromyography and the other for use with EEG, teach the subject to relax their body and relax their mind. About 90% of subjects find the muscle work to be good enough for learning to get to sleep, while the other 10% find it necessary to do some EEG work. This isn't a technique that takes months of client coaching; just one to a few sessions and they are ready for a night's good rest.

Sample Training Screen from Insomnia Suite

To learn more about these suites and the sensor and hardware required to use them, visit the software section of the BFE Online Shop. Once there, click on the individual suites download the tech sheets provided with the description of each suite.

Please feel free to contact us at education@bfe.org with any questions you may have.

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