Abstract
BackgroundPerforming activities of daily living depends, among other factors, on awareness of the position and movements of limbs. Neural injuries, such as stroke, might negatively affect such an awareness and, consequently, lead to degrading the quality of life and lengthening the motor recovery process. With the goal of improving the sense of hand position in three-dimensional (3D) space, we investigate the effects of integrating a pertinent training component within a robotic reaching task.MethodsIn the proof-of-concept study presented in this paper, 12 healthy participants, during a single session, used their dominant hand to attempt reaching without vision to two targets in 3D space, which were placed at locations that resembled the functional task of self-feeding. After each attempt, participants received visual and haptic feedback about their hand’s position to accurately locate the target. Performance was evaluated at the beginning and end of each session during an assessment in which participants reached without visual nor haptic feedback to three targets: the same two targets employed during the training phase and an additional one to evaluate the generalization of training.ResultsCollected data showed a statistically significant [39.81% (p=0.001)] reduction of end-position reaching error when results of reaching to all targets were combined. End-position error to the generalization target, although not statistically significant, was reduced by 15.47%.ConclusionsThese results provide support for the effectiveness of combining an arm position sense training component with functional motor tasks, which could be implemented in the design of future robot-assisted rehabilitation paradigms to potentially expedite the recovery process of individuals with neurological injuries.
Highlights
Recent technological advancements have led to the increasing use of robotics in various clinical applications, ranging from patient monitoring systems to complex robotic platforms for minimally invasive surgery [1]
When all targets were combined, the average error was reduced by 44.71% (p=0.001) and 39.81% (p=0.001) when comparing Post-measurement 1 (Post1) to Baseline Assessment 1 (BL1) and Baseline Assessment 2 (BL2) trials, respectively; and 34.67% (p=0.017) and 28.88% (p=0.006) when comparing Post-measurement 2 (Post2) to BL1 and BL2 trials, respectively
For Target 0 (T0) (Fig. 3b), the average error was reduced by 61.07% (p=0.001) and 50.69% (p=0.015) when comparing Post1 to BL1 and BL2 trials, respectively; and 52.21% (p
Summary
Recent technological advancements have led to the increasing use of robotics in various clinical applications, ranging from patient monitoring systems to complex robotic platforms for minimally invasive surgery [1]. For the particular case of motor rehabilitation, robotic technology has been employed for diverse tasks, such as Proprioception, which is arguably defined as the awareness of the position and movements of limbs [5], has a functional role in performing activities of daily living [6]. Valdés et al Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation (2020) 17:96 this capability to some degree [7] Neurological conditions, such as stroke, could significantly degrade an individual’s ability to locate their limbs in space and to detect passive movements imposed on their joints [8]. Performing activities of daily living depends, among other factors, on awareness of the position and movements of limbs Neural injuries, such as stroke, might negatively affect such an awareness and, lead to degrading the quality of life and lengthening the motor recovery process. With the goal of improving the sense of hand position in three-dimensional (3D) space, we investigate the effects of integrating a pertinent training component within a robotic reaching task
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