This trial is examining the effectiveness of a new robotic arm rehabilitation treatment in patients with stroke. The main outcome to be measured is the change in arm movements. This study is being conducted in Washington DC, US.
The details
Stroke is one of the main causes of death in the US. 95% of patients with stroke experience some kind of disability. Arm disability makes these patients unable to perform daily tasks, affecting their quality of life.
The ARMin robotic arm combined with the HandSOME device (robotic hand), helps patients manipulate real or virtual objects during training. Prior studies showed that ARMin combined with HandSOME device improved the treatment of arm disabilities. However, it is still not clear how this treatment could affect the treatment of people with stroke.
The main outcome will be measured as the change in arm movement, seen in each patient after the treatment.
Who are they looking for?
This study is recruiting 38 patients with arm disability after a stroke. Patients should have had a stroke (more than 6 months before entering this study) and have some hand movement.
Patients should not have any mental disease, any other injury in the arm, a severe loss of senses (such as visual sense), severe pain or history of prior stroke.
How will it work
Participants will be randomly assigned to receive 12 hours of robot therapy followed by 12 hours of standard therapy or 24 hours of standard therapy alone.
The robotic treatment group will receive 1-hour robotic training sessions, 3 times per week for a total of 12 sessions. This will be followed by the same dosage of standard therapy. The other group will receive 24 hours of one-on-one treatment from a therapist (1 hour per session, 3 times per week). Changes in movement will be evaluated after 8 weeks.
