Reaching exercise for chronic paretic upper extremity after stroke using a novel rehabilitation robot with arm-weight support and concomitant electrical stimulation and vibration: before-and-after feasibility trial.

Background: Our group developed a rehabilitation robot to assist with repetitive, active reaching movement of a paretic upper extremity. The robot is equipped with a servo motor-controlled arm-weight support and works in conjunction with neuromuscular electrical stimulation and vibratory stimulation to facilitate agonist-muscle contraction. In this before-and-after pilot study, we assessed the feasibility of applying the robot to improve motor control and function of the hemiparetic upper extremity in patients who suffered chronic stroke.

Effects of repetitive facilitative exercise with neuromuscular electrical stimulation, vibratory stimulation and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of the hemiplegic hand in chronic stroke patients.

Aim: Repetitive facilitative exercise (RFE) is a developed approach to the rehabilitation of hemiplegia. RFE can be integrated with neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES), direct application of vibratory stimulation (DAVS) and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). The aims of the present study were to retrospectively compare the effects of RFE and NMES, DAVS with those of RFE and rTMS, and to determine the maximal effect of the combination of RFE with NMES, DAVS, rTMS and pharmacological treatments in stroke patients.