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Background: Chronic stroke patients usually experience reduced hand functions, impeding their ability to perform activities of daily living (ADLs) independently. Additionally, improvements in hand functions by physical therapy beyond six months after the initial onset of stroke are much slower than in the earlier months. As such, chronic stroke patients could benefit from an assistive device to enhance their hand functions, allowing them to perform ADLs independently daily. In recent years, soft robotics has provided a novel approach to assistive devices for motor impaired individuals, offering more compliant and lightweight alternatives to traditional robotic devices. The scope of this study is to demonstrate the viability of a fabric-based soft robotic (SR) glove with bidirectional actuators in assisting chronic stroke study participants with hand impairments in performing ADLs. Methods: Force and torque measurement tests were conducted to characterize the SR Glove, and hand functional tasks were given to eight chronic stroke patients to assess the efficacy of the SR Glove as an assistive device. The tasks involved object manipulation tasks that simulate ADLs, and the series of tasks was done by the participants once without assistance for baseline data, and once while using the SR Glove. A usability questionnaire was also given to each participant after the tasks were done to gain insight into how the SR Glove impacts their confidence and reliance on support while performing ADLs. Results: The SR Glove improved the participants' manipulation of objects in ADL tasks. The difference in mean scores between the unassisted and assisted conditions was significant across all participants. Additionally, the usability questionnaire showed the participants felt more confident and less reliant on support while using the SR Glove to perform ADLs than without the SR Glove. Conclusions: The results from this study demonstrated that the SR Glove is a viable option to assist hand function in chronic stroke patients who suffer from hand motor impairments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This randomized controlled feasibility study investigates the ability for clinical application of the Brain-Computer Interface-based Soft Robotic Glove (BCI-SRG) incorporating activities of daily living (ADL)-oriented tasks for stroke rehabilitation. Methods: Eleven recruited chronic stroke patients were randomized into BCI-SRG or Soft Robotic Glove (SRG) group. Each group underwent 120-minute intervention per session comprising 30-minute standard arm therapy and 90-minute experimental therapy (BCI-SRG or SRG). To perform ADL tasks, BCI-SRG group used motor imagery-BCI and SRG, while SRG group used SRG without motor imagery-BCI. Both groups received 18 sessions of intervention over 6 weeks. Fugl-Meyer Motor Assessment (FMA) and Action Research Arm Test (ARAT) scores were measured at baseline (week 0), post- intervention (week 6), and follow-ups (week 12 and 24). In total, 10/11 patients completed the study with 5 in each group and 1 dropped out. Results: Though there were no significant intergroup differences for FMA and ARAT during 6-week intervention, the improvement of FMA and ARAT seemed to sustain beyond 6-week intervention for BCI-SRG group, as compared with SRG control. Incidentally, all BCI-SRG subjects reported a sense of vivid movement of the stroke-impaired upper limb and 3/5 had this phenomenon persisting beyond intervention while none of SRG did. Conclusion: BCI-SRG suggested probable trends of sustained functional improvements with peculiar kinesthetic experience outlasting active intervention in chronic stroke despite the dire need for large-scale investigations to verify statistical significance. Significance: Addition of BCI to soft robotic training for ADL-oriented stroke rehabilitation holds promise for sustained improvements as well as elicited perception of motor movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]