[Abstract] Deficits underlying handgrip performance in mildly affected chronic stroke persons

ABSTRACT

Background

Knowledge of the deficits underlying handgrip performance is fundamental for the development of targeted interventions.

Objectives

The purpose of this study was to evaluate maximal handgrip strength, fatigue resistance, grip work, and muscle fatigue in mildly affected stroke persons.

Methods

We conducted a prospective observational study. A total of 20 individuals after a first unilateral ischemic/hemorrhagic chronic stroke (months poststroke: mean 33.64 ± 19.60), mildly affected according to functional score (FIM: 112.71 ± 16.14) and with arm motor impairment (upper-extremity Fugl-Meyer score: mean 57.07 ± 7.82 on the contralesional side); and 20 sex and age-matched controls were included. The outcomes assessed were maximal handgrip strength evaluated through maximal voluntary contraction, fatigue resistance defined as the seconds during which grip strength dropped to 50% of its maximum and gripwork, which was calculated using the equation grip work = maximal grip strength * 0.75 * fatigue resistance. Muscle fatigue was assessed using surface electromyography during a sustained contraction over 50% of maximal voluntary contraction.

Results

Persons with stroke demonstrated significantly reduced handgrip performance regarding maximal handgrip strength, resistance to fatigue, grip work, and muscle fatigue for the contralesional hand. In addition, a reduced grip resistance and muscle fatigue was shown for the ipsilesional hand compared with controls. We found no effect of the hemispheric side of the lesion on the grip performance measures assessed.

Conclusions

Our findings provide evidence that handgrip performance remain impaired after 6 months after stroke, and may serve as a target for interventions to improve these abilities after stroke.

via Deficits underlying handgrip performance in mildly affected chronic stroke persons: Topics in Stroke Rehabilitation: Vol 0, No 0

[Abstract] BIGHand – A bilateral, integrated, and gamified handgrip stroke rehabilitation system for independent at-home exercise – Demo Video

Effective home rehabilitation is important for recovery of hand grip ability in post-stroke individuals. This paper presents BIGHand, a bilateral, integrated, and gamified handgrip stroke rehabilitation system for independent at-home exercise. BIGHand consists of affordable sensor-integrated hardware (Vernier hand dynamometers, Arduino Uno, interface shield) used to obtain real-time grip force data, and a set of exergames designed as parts of an interactive structural rehabilitation program. This program pairs targeted difficulty progression with user-ability scaled controls to create an adaptive, challenging, and enticing rehabilitation environment. This training prepares users for the many activities of daily living (ADLs) by targeting strength, bilateral coordination, hand-eye coordination, speed, endurance, precision, and dynamic grip force adjustment. Multiple measures are taken to engage, motivate, and guide users through the at-home rehabilitation process, including “smart” post-game feedback and in-game goals.

Demo video 

via BIGHand – A bilateral, integrated, and gamified handgrip stroke rehabilitation system for independent at-home exercise

[ARTICLE] Home rehabilitation supported by a wearable soft-robotic device for improving hand function in older adults: A pilot randomized controlled trial – Full Text

Abstract

Background

New developments, based on the concept of wearable soft-robotic devices, make it possible to support impaired hand function during the performance of daily activities and intensive task-specific training. The wearable soft-robotic ironHand glove is such a system that supports grip strength during the performance of daily activities and hand training exercises at home.

Design

This pilot randomized controlled clinical study explored the effect of prolonged use of the assistive ironHand glove during daily activities at home, in comparison to its use as a trainings tool at home, on functional performance of the hand.

Methods

In total, 91 older adults with self-perceived decline of hand function participated in this study. They were randomly assigned to a 4-weeks intervention of either assistive or therapeutic ironHand use, or control group (received no additional exercise or treatment). All participants performed a maximal pinch grip test, Box and Blocks test (BBT), Jebsen-Taylor Hand Function Test (JTHFT) at baseline and after 4-weeks of intervention. Only participants of the assistive and therapeutic group completed the System Usability Scale (SUS) after the intervention period.

Results

Participants of the assistive and therapeutic group reported high scores on the SUS (mean = 73, SEM = 2). The therapeutic group showed improvements in unsupported handgrip strength (mean Δ = 3) and pinch strength (mean Δ = 0.5) after 4 weeks of ironHand use (p≤0.039). Scores on the BBT and JTHFT improved not only after 4 weeks of ironHand use (assistive and therapeutic), but also in the control group. Only handgrip strength improved more in the therapeutic group compared to the assistive and control group. No significant correlations were found between changes in performance and assistive or therapeutic ironHand use (p≥0.062).

Conclusion

This study showed that support of the wearable soft-robotic ironHand system either as assistive device or as training tool may be a promising way to counter functional hand function decline associated with ageing.

 

Introduction

Hand function predominantly determines the quality of performance in activities of daily living (ADL) and work-related functioning. Older adults with age-related loss of muscle mass (i.e. sarcopenia) [1] and/or age-related diseases (e.g. stroke, arthritis) [2, 3] suffer from loss of hand function. As a consequence, they experience functional limitations, which affects independence in performing ADL [3–5].

An effective intervention for improving hand function of (stroke) patients should consist of several key aspects of motor learning, such as high-intensity and task-specificity in repetitive and functional exercises that are actively initiated by the patient him/herself [6, 7]. In a traditional rehabilitation setting, those kinds of interventions are performed with one-on-one attention from the healthcare professional for each patient. This might become problematic in the near future when the population of older adults with age-related diseases (e.g. stroke, rheumatoid arthritis) with hand function decline will rise, resulting in an increased need for healthcare professionals and a rise of healthcare costs [8]. Therefore, new alternatives to provide intensive therapy for all patients are needed in the future.

New technological developments, such as robot-assisted hand training, have the potential to provide such intensive, repetitive and task-specific therapy. Several reviews [9–11] already showed positive results on motor function after robot-assisted training of the upper extremity. However, limiting factors of robot-assisted therapy are the need for supervision of a healthcare professional, the high costs of the devices and the limited availability of wearable devices for training at home [12]. Furthermore, it is often not efficient in transferring the trained movements into daily situations [6]. Therefore, the next generation robotic training approaches should pay substantial attention towards home-based rehabilitation and the functional nature of the exercise involved.

A new way of providing functional, intensive and task-specific hand training would involve using new technological innovations that enable support of the affected hand directly during the performance of ADL, based on the concept of a wearable robotic glove [13–18]. In this way, the affected hand can be used repeatedly and for prolonged periods of time during functional daily activities. These robotic gloves can use different human-robot interfaces to provide assistance for the affected hand, such as an EMG-controlled glove, a tendon driven glove, a glove controlled by force sensors etc. [13, 14, 16, 18, 19]. All these robotic gloves use soft and flexible materials to make such devices more lightweight and easy to use, accommodating wearable applications. This concept of a wearable soft-robotic glove allows persons with reduced hand function to use their hand(s) during a large variety of functional activities and may even turn performing daily activities into extensive training, independent from the availability of healthcare professionals. This is thought to improve hand function and patient’s independence in performing ADL.

Therefore, an easy to use and wearable soft-robotic glove (ironHand system), supporting grip strength and hand training exercises at home, was developed within the ironHand project [20]. Previous studies have examined feasibility [20] and the orthotic effect of the ironHand system [21]. In a first randomized controlled clinical study, the effect of prolonged use of such an assisting glove during ADL at home on functional performance of the hand was explored, in comparison to its use as a training tool at home.[…]

 

Continue —> Home rehabilitation supported by a wearable soft-robotic device for improving hand function in older adults: A pilot randomized controlled trial

Fig 2.
Overview of the ironHand system with assistive functionality (left panel) and therapeutic functionality (right panel). * Reprinted from Bioservo Technologies under a CC BY license, with permission from Bioservo Technologies, original copyright 2017.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0220544.g002