1. Robot-assisted arm training in physical and virtual environments: A case study of long-term chronic stroke
- Author
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Nahid Norouzi-Gheidari, Joyce Fung, and Philippe Archambault
- Subjects
030506 rehabilitation ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Rehabilitation ,business.industry ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Kinematics ,medicine.disease ,Motor function ,Term (time) ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Physical medicine and rehabilitation ,medicine ,Robot ,0305 other medical science ,business ,Motor learning ,Stroke ,Chronic stroke ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery - Abstract
Robot-assisted training (RT) is a novel technique with promising results for stroke rehabilitation. However, benefits of RT on individuals with long-term chronic stroke have not been well studied. For this case study, we developed an arm-based RT protocol for reaching practice in physical and virtual environments and tracked the outcomes in an individual with a long-term chronic stroke (20+ years) over 10 half-hour sessions. We analyzed the performance of the reaching movement with kinematic measures and the arm motor function using the Fugl-Meyer Assessment-Upper Extremity scale (FMA-UE). The results showed significant improvements in the subject's reaching performance accompanied by a small increase in FMA-UE score from 18 to 21. The improvements were also transferred into real life activities, as reported by the subject. This case study shows that even in long-term chronic stroke, improvements in motor function are still possible with RT, while the underlying mechanisms of motor learning capacity or neuroplastic changes need to be further investigated.
- Published
- 2017
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