Thursday, August 1, 2013

Cardio Notes: Robots Open Impaired Hands

 When and who will push this to a stroke protocol? I could use this right now.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Cardiology/Strokes/37411?utm_source=cardiodaily&utm_medium=email&utm_content=aha&utm_campaign=02-18-13&eun=gd3r&userid=424561&email=oc1dean@yahoo.com&mu_id=5523591
Robotic Therapy & Biofeedback Help Stroke Recovery
A robotic device that opens and closes the impaired hands of stroke victims, coupled with biofeedback, improved function and reduced impairment, a small study found.
A year after their stroke, 43 patients underwent 30-minute sessions of assisted movement with enhanced sensation (AMES) for 10 weeks. One group received visual feedback of electromyographic (EMG) activity, the other group saw only the amount of force generated by the rehabbing hand. All patients assisted the hand movement using biofeedback.
Steven L. Wolf, MD, of Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, and colleagues found significant improvement in both groups for the primary outcome of manual dexterity as measured by the Box and Block test (P<0.005), they reported at the recent International Stroke Conference in Honolulu.
The researchers also saw significant improvement in secondary outcomes among both groups in the Fugl-Meyer motor score (P<0.001) and the Stroke Impact Scale (P<0.05).
Four of 24 patients who had no baseline active extension of any finger of the affected hand recovered the ability to move one or more blocks.

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