VA Research Wrap Up: New findings on cancer care, wheelchairs and Parkinson’s disease

VA’s Office of Research and Development recently published three News Briefs highlighting research findings on improving cancer care, a robotic wheelchair system and Parkinson’s disease.

Veterans save almost $9,000 with localized cancer treatments

VA researchers in Ann Arbor, Mich., demonstrated that providing Veterans with local outpatient or in-home transfusion treatments for cancer saved Veterans nearly $9,000 in travel-related costs from a total of nearly 22,000 less miles over an 8-month period.

VA’s pilot “Close to Me” program provides cancer treatment at local VA community-based outpatient clinics or self-administered at home while supervised by an infusion nurse, rather than at infusion centers in large hospitals. The program enrolled 102 Veterans who lived an average of 53 miles from the Ann Arbor VA Medical Center and 16 miles from a community-based outpatient clinics. Researchers also found there was more than $400,000 in savings for VA based on drug price differences in VA versus community care. Patient satisfaction was high, with 99% treatment adherence and no serious adverse events. The pilot program showed delivering cancer transfusions locally to rural Veterans is both feasible and can lead to significant travel and cost savings. View the full study from “JCO Oncology Practice.”

New robotic system improves wheelchair transfers to bed

VA researchers from the Human Engineering Research Laboratory (HERL) created a robotics system to aid in transfers between a wheelchair and bed. The Powered Personal Transfer System (PPTS) consists of a custom powered wheelchair and hospital bed that dock together and use advanced robotics to safely allow transfer without the need for lifting. Wheelchair users and caregivers who tested the system found it easy to use and said it reduced their physical and mental workload. PPTS outperformed existing transfer methods, offering a potential solution to prevent injury and increase the independence of wheelchair users. Watch a demonstration of PPTS in action on the HERL website. View the full study from the “American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.”

Deep brain stimulation hits decade benchmark as Parkinson’s treatment

In the longest follow-up study to date, VA researchers showed deep brain stimulation continues to improve motor function in people with Parkinson’s disease 10 years into treatment.

Deep brain stimulation involves a device being surgically implanted into the brain to send electric signals to specific brain areas. Ten years after device implantation, a group of 156 patients with Parkinson’s disease had 22% and 33% improvements on a Parkinson’s disease rating scale compared to baseline, depending on what area of the brain was targeted. Both deep brain stimulation types resulted in significant long-term improvements in motor function, with the greatest improvement in tremors. However, non-motor symptoms such as cognitive decline continued to progress. The results confirm deep brain stimulation can have significant positive effects on motor function over the long term in patients with Parkinson’s disease. View the full study from “Frontiers in Neurology.”

For more Office of Research and Development updates, visit ORD online or go to https://www.research.va.gov/news_briefs/.