Electrical Stimulation + Smart Glove Program Yields Promising Results
New research accepted for publication by the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, titled “Virtual Reality Rehabilitation with Functional Electrical Stimulation Improves UE Function After Stroke”, shows some nice improvement with the combination of the Smart Glove and electrical stimulation.
Previously the Smart Glove, a biofeedback training tool for hand and arm rehab after stroke and brain injury, required some active movement for user participation. The outcome of this research makes the Smart Glove a more accessible rehab tool for people with limited motion in their hand and arm.
Hyeyoung Lee and her team compared cyclic FES (functional electrical stimulation) to FES in conjunction with the Rapael Smart Glove for 20 sessions, 5 times per week for 30 minutes each session over 4 weeks for chronic stroke patients. The FES + Smart Glove group showed statistically significant improvements in the Fugl-Meyer assessment for hand, wrist and forearm function.
Greater improvements were noted in the combination group compared to FES for all outcomes except the Stroke Impact Scale-ADL/IADL score. There were larger absolute differences in Wolf Motor Function Test,
Stroke Impact Scale-Strength and Stroke Impact Scale-Hand scores compared to FES group.
The combination of the Smart Glove along with functional electrical stimulation allows the user to engage with motivating training games as they work to engage the muscles required for functional movement with the help of electrical stimulation for additional support.
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© Hyeyoung Lee et al. (2018) Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
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- Lauren Sheehan, OTD, OTR/LLauren is an occupational therapist, adjunct professor, therapy community builder and product manager based out of San Francisco, CA. Lauren works as a Field Clinical Manager for Neurolutions.