A robot is being used at Northwick Park Hospital to help stroke victims gain movement in a paralysed arm.

The device has been rolled out following ground-breaking research which showed it could help a patient’s brain and arm to learn to work together again.

The patient sits at a table facing a computer screen and places their arm onto the robotic device before undertaking exercises such as moving their limb between targets on the computer screen.

If the person is unable to move their arm then the robot moves it for them to complete the task.

If the patient initiates movement, the robot provides adjustable levels of assistance to help the person’s arm movement.

One of the first patients to try the robotic arm was 50-year-old Bindiya Panya who was paralysed down her right side after suffering a stroke in March last year.

She said: “I feel very lucky to have been asked to take part in this trial. The robotic arm has made such a difference to use of my right arm.”

In 2011 the stroke unit at the hospital in Watford Road, Sudbury, was named as one of the best in the country.