Background and objective . We devised a therapeutic approach to facilitate the use of the hemiparetic upper extremity (UE) in daily life by combining integrated volitional control electrical stimulation with a wrist splint, called hybrid assistive neuromuscular dynamic stimulation (HANDS). Methods. Twenty patients with chronic hemiparetic stroke (median 17.5 months) had moderate to severe UE weakness. Before and immediately after completing 3 weeks of training in 40-minute sessions, 5 days per week over 3 weeks and wearing the system for 8 hours each day, clinical measures of motor impairment, spasticity, and UE functional scores, as well as neurophysiological measures including electromyography activity, reciprocal inhibition, and intracortical inhibition were assessed. A follow-up clinical assessment was performed 3 months later. Results. UE motor function, spasticity, and functional scores improved after the intervention. Neurophysiologically, the intervention induced restoration of presynaptic and long loop inhibitory connections as well as disynaptic reciprocal inhibition. Paired pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation study indicated disinhibition of the short intracortical inhibition in the affected hemisphere. The follow-up assessment showed that improved UE functions were maintained at 3 months. Conclusion. The combination of hand splint and volitional and electrically induced muscle contraction can induce corticospinal plasticity and may offer a promising option for the management of the paretic UE in patients with stroke. A larger sample size with randomized controls is needed to demonstrate effectiveness.

Background: An artificial intelligence (AI)-integrated electromyography (EMG)-driven robot hand was devised for upper extremity (UE) rehabilitation. This robot detects patients’ intentions to perform finger extension and flexion based on the EMG activities of 3 forearm muscles. Objective: This study aimed to assess the effect of this robot in patients with chronic stroke. Methods: This was a single-blinded, randomized, controlled trial with a 4-week follow-up period. Twenty patients were assigned to the active (n = 11) and control (n = 9) groups. Patients in the active group received 40 minutes of active finger training with this robot twice a week for 4 weeks. Patients in the control group received passive finger training with the same robot. The Fugl-Meyer assessment of UE motor function (FMA), motor activity log-14 amount of use score (MAL-14 AOU), modified Ashworth scale (MAS), H reflex, and reciprocal inhibition were assessed before, post, and post-4 weeks (post-4w) of intervention. Results: FMA was significantly improved at both post ( P = .011) and post-4w ( P = .021) in the active group. The control group did not show significant improvement in FMA at the post. MAL-14 AOU was improved at the post in the active group ( P = .03). In the active group, there were significant improvements in wrist MAS at post ( P = .024) and post-4w ( P = .026). Conclusions: The AI-integrated EMG-driven robot improved UE motor function and spasticity, which persisted for 4 weeks. This robot hand might be useful for UE rehabilitation of patients with stroke. Clinical Trial Registry Name: The effect of robotic rehabilitation using XMM-HR2 for the paretic upper extremity among hemiparetic patients with stroke. Clinical Trial Registration-URL: https://jrct.niph.go.jp/ Unique Identifier: jRCTs032200045.

Background: Hybrid assistive neuromuscular dynamic stimulation (HANDS) therapy improved paretic upper extremity motor function in patients with severe to moderate hemiparesis. We hypothesized that brain machine interface (BMI) training would be able

Objective: Brain-machine interface training was developed for upper-extremity rehabilitation for pat...