Robot-aided training for upper limbs of sub-acute stroke patients

Abstract

Miyasaka H, Tomita Y, Orand A, Tanino G, Takeda K, Okamoto S, Sonoda S. Robot-aided training for upper limbs of sub-acute stroke patients. Jpn J Compr Rehabil Sci 2015; 6: 27-32. Purpose: To evaluate the effects of short-term robotassisted training on upper extremity paralysis after a stroke. Methods: The subjects consisted of 21 patients 6–12 weeks after their first stroke. Two weeks of robotassisted training and 2 weeks of conventional training were performed using a crossover method. During the robot-assisted training period, robot-assisted training (1 hour/day, 5 days/week) was added to conventional training. At the initiation of training and after 2 and 4 weeks, motor function was evaluated in terms of the upper extremity items of the Stroke Impairment Assessment Set and Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA), active angles of shoulder flexion and abduction, and items of the Motor Activity Log (MAL). Values before and after each type of training and gains were compared between robot-assisted and conventional training using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Results: Compared with the conventional training after 2 weeks, significant improvements could be seen for the scores of the FMA of shoulder and elbow, the Amount of Use of MAL, and Quality of Movement of MAL items of robot-assisted training. Conclusion: After intensive robot-assisted training of the paralyzed extremity even for a short period, improvement was observed in the proximal function and frequency of use of the affected extremity in daily