OBJECTIVE To examine whether robotic therapy can reduce motor impairment and enhance recovery of the hemiparetic arm in persons with chronic stroke. DESIGN Pre-posttest design. SETTING Rehabilitation hospital, outpatient care. PARTICIPANTS Volunteer sample of 20 persons diagnosed with a single, unilateral stroke within the past 1 to 5 years, with persistent hemiparesis. INTERVENTIONS Ro...

PURPOSE Spasticity is a common disorder in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). The aim of this study was to investigate whether intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS), a safe, non-invasive and well-tolerated protocol of excitatory repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), is effective in modulating spasticity in SCI patients. METHODS In this randomized, double-blind, cross...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE To examine the effect of thermal stimulation (TS) on upper extremity (UE) motor recovery in patients at least 3 months after stroke. METHODS Participants were randomly assigned to either the experimental group or the control group. In addition to regular rehabilitation programs, the experimental group received an UE-TS protocol for 30 minutes per day (3 days/week for 8 ...

Article history: Received 18 March 2016 Received in revised form 11 May 2016 Accepted 11 May 2016 Available online 13 May 2016 Spasticity, muscle stiffness and contracture cause severe disability after central nervous system injury. However, current treatment options for spasticity produce muscle weakness which can impede movement, and do not directly address muscle stiffness. Here we propose t...

AIM We evaluated the effects of botulinum toxin type A (BTA) - abobotulinumtoxinA on passive motion resistance (PMR) values of lower limbs affected muscles and on the functional motor status in children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP). METHODS In Group I (28 lower limbs with spastic muscles), and in Group II (14 lower limbs with dynamic spastic equinus) BTA was administered. Physical therapy...

In a double blind, placebo controlled, cross over study the correlations between single doses (2, 4, and 8 mg), plasma concentrations, and antispastic action of tizanidine were investigated in 16 patients with extensor spasticity of the legs due to multiple sclerosis. An electrogoniometer was used to assess muscle tone at knee extensors, applying Wartenberg's pendulum test. Blood samples, a cli...

Objective: To evaluate the effects of mirror therapy on pper-extremity motor recovery, spasticity, and hand-related unctioning of inpatients with subacute stroke. Design: Randomized, controlled, assessor-blinded, 4-week rial, with follow-up at 6 months. Setting: Rehabilitation education and research hospital. Participants: A total of 40 inpatients with stroke (mean age, 3.2y), all within 12 mon...

Purpose We evaluated improvements in gait after using the Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL®) exoskeleton robot in a patient with late-onset neurological deterioration of lower extremity function after undergoing thoracic spine surgery for a myelopathy due to ossification of the ligamentum flavum. Case Presentation A 70-year-old man participated in ten 20 min sessions of HAL intervention, twice week...

This single arm pre-post study aimed at evaluating the acute effects induced by a single session of robot-assisted passive hand mobilization on local perfusion and upper limb (UL) function in poststroke hemiparetic participants. Twenty-three patients with subacute or chronic stroke received 20 min passive mobilization of the paretic hand with robotic assistance. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the clinical usefulness of the REHAROB Therapeutic System, which provides passive robot-mediated physiotherapy for patients with spastic hemiparesis. DESIGN Controlled, randomized, preliminary study. PATIENTS AND METHODS Thirty patients with hemiparesis as a consequence of upper motor neurone lesion were divided randomly into 2 groups: robotic and control. Subjects ...