Application of the Teager-Kaiser Energy Operator in an autonomous burst detector to create onset and offset profiles of forearm muscles during reach-to-grasp movements.

Purpose: The primary aim of this study is to investigate the potential benefit of the Teager-Kaiser Energy Operator (TKEO) as data pre-processor, in an autonomous burst detection method to classify electromyographic signals of the (fore)arm and hand. For this purpose, optimal settings of the burst detector, leading to minimal detection errors, need to be known. Additionally, the burst detector is applied to real muscle activity recorded in healthy adults performing reach-to-grasp movements.

Feasibility study into self-administered training at home using an arm and hand device with motivational gaming environment in chronic stroke.

Background: Assistive and robotic training devices are increasingly used for rehabilitation of the hemiparetic arm after stroke, although applications for the wrist and hand are trailing behind. Furthermore, applying a training device in domestic settings may enable an increased training dose of functional arm and hand training. The objective of this study was to assess the feasibility and potential clinical changes associated with a technology-supported arm and hand training system at home for patients with chronic stroke.

Gaming and Conventional Exercises for Improvement of Arm Function After Stroke: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study.

Objective: The use of new technologies in rehabilitation, such as virtual reality and/or computerized gaming exercises, may be useful to enable patients to practice intensively in a motivating way. The objective of the present randomized controlled pilot study was to compare the effect of reach training using a target group specific-designed rehabilitation game to time-matched standardized conventional reach training on arm function after stroke.

Materials And Methods: Twenty chronic stroke patients were randomized to either the rehabilitation game group or the conventional training group.

Training modalities in robot-mediated upper limb rehabilitation in stroke: a framework for classification based on a systematic review.

Robot-mediated post-stroke therapy for the upper-extremity dates back to the 1990s. Since then, a number of robotic devices have become commercially available. There is clear evidence that robotic interventions improve upper limb motor scores and strength, but these improvements are often not transferred to performance of activities of daily living.

The effect of arm support combined with rehabilitation games on upper-extremity function in subacute stroke: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Use of rehabilitation technology, such as (electro)mechanical devices or robotics, could partly relieve the increasing strain on stroke rehabilitation caused by an increasing prevalence of stroke. Arm support (AS) training showed improvement of unsupported arm function in chronic stroke.

Objective: To examine the effect of weight-supported arm training combined with computerized exercises on arm function and capacity, compared with dose-matched conventional reach training in subacute stroke patients.

Upper-limb motor control in patients after stroke: attentional demands and the potential beneficial effects of arm support.

The goal of this study was to investigate the attentional load of using the upper limb in moderately and mildly affected patients after stroke, with and without arm support. Ten patients with stroke (4 mild and 6 moderate paresis) and ten healthy, gender- and age-matched control subjects performed a dual-task experiment that consisted of a circle drawing task and an auditive Stroop task. Complexity of the motor task was manipulated by supporting the arm against gravity.

Influence of gravity compensation training on synergistic movement patterns of the upper extremity after stroke, a pilot study.

Background: The majority of stroke patients have to cope with impaired arm function. Gravity compensation of the arm instantaneously affects abnormal synergistic movement patterns. The goal of the present study is to examine whether gravity compensated training improves unsupported arm function.

Changes in muscle activation after reach training with gravity compensation in chronic stroke patients.

The objective of this study is to examine the effect of gravity compensation training on reaching and underlying changes in muscle activation. In this clinical trial, eight chronic stroke patients with limited arm function received 18 sessions (30 min) of gravity-compensated reach training (during 6 weeks) in combination with a rehabilitation game. Before and after training, unsupported reach (assessing maximal distance, joint angles and muscle activity of eight shoulder and elbow muscles) and the Fugl-Meyer assessment were compared.

Influence of reaching direction on visuomotor adaptation: an explorative study.

Robotics is increasingly used in rehabilitation therapy of the hemiparetic arm after stroke. Several studies performed adaptation experiments to gain more insight in the underlying learning processes. In these studies adaptation during reaching movements in different directions is assessed.

Quantifying loss of independent joint control in acute stroke with a robotic evaluation of reaching workspace.

Early recovery after stroke is significant for slow emergence of volitional movement. Initial movements are constrained by stereotypical co-activation of muscle groups such as shoulder abductors and distal limb flexors resulting in the loss of independent joint control. The objective of this study was to utilize new quantitative methods to evaluate the emergence and progression of the loss of independent joint control in the acute phase of recovery from stroke.

Effect of position feedback during task-oriented upper-limb training after stroke: five-case pilot study.

Feedback is an important element in motor learning during rehabilitation therapy following stroke. The objective of this pilot study was to better understand the effect of position feedback during task-oriented reach training of the upper limb in people with chronic stroke. Five subjects participated in the training for 30 minutes three times a week for 6 weeks.

Circle drawing as evaluative movement task in stroke rehabilitation: an explorative study.

Background: The majority of stroke survivors have to cope with deficits in arm function, which is often measured with subjective clinical scales. The objective of this study is to examine whether circle drawing metrics are suitable objective outcome measures for measuring upper extremity function of stroke survivors.

Methods: Stroke survivors (n = 16) and healthy subjects (n = 20) drew circles, as big and as round as possible, above a table top.

An explorative, cross-sectional study into abnormal muscular coupling during reach in chronic stroke patients.

Background: In many stroke patients arm function is limited, which can be related to an abnormal coupling between shoulder and elbow joints. The extent to which this can be translated to activities of daily life (ADL), in terms of muscle activation during ADL-like movements, is rather unknown. Therefore, the present study examined the occurrence of abnormal coupling on functional, ADL-like reaching movements of chronic stroke patients by comparison with healthy persons.

Systematic review of the effect of robot-aided therapy on recovery of the hemiparetic arm after stroke.

A limited number of clinical studies have examined the effect of poststroke rehabilitation with robotic devices on hemiparetic arm function. We systematically reviewed the literature to assess the effect of robot-aided therapy on stroke patients' upper-limb motor control and functional abilities. Eight clinical trials were identified and reviewed.