Robotic hand treatment of patients affected by chronic stroke: a monocentric longitudinal pilot study.

Abstract

Few studies investigated the effects of a robotic treatment in hand motor recovery after stroke. Aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of treatment by means of Gloreha Sinfonia® robotic glove in hand motor recovery of a chronic stroke sample of patients with different impairment severity. Thirteen chronic stroke subjects were assigned to either active-assisted robotic treatment or passive robotic treatment according to their ability to actively extend wrist for at least 20 degrees. All subjects underwent 20 sessions of treatment with Gloreha Sinfonia® and were evaluated before (T0), after treatment (T1) and after one month (T2) with clinical scales testing motor performance [Motor Power (MP); Fugl Meyer Upper-Extremity (FMUE)] and spasticity [Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS)]. Both groups showed significant motor recovery and spasticity reduction. Further randomized controlled trials with larger samples are needed to confirm our results.