Background: Over 80% of patients with stroke experience finger grasping dysfunction, affecting independence in activities of daily living and quality of life. In routine training, task-oriented training is usually used for functional hand training, which may improve finger grasping performance after stroke, while augmented therapy may lead to a better treatment outcome. As a new technology-supported training, the hand rehabilitation robot provides opportunities to improve the therapeutic effect by increasing the training intensity. However, most hand rehabilitation robots commonly applied in clinics are based on a passive training mode and lack the sensory feedback function of fingers, which is not conducive to patients completing more accurate grasping movements. A force feedback hand rehabilitation robot can compensate for these defects. However, its clinical efficacy in patients with stroke remains unknown. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness and added value of a force feedback hand rehabilitation robot combined with task-oriented training in stroke patients with hemiplegia. Methods: In this single-blinded randomised controlled trial, 44 stroke patients with hemiplegia were randomly divided into experimental (n = 22) and control (n = 22) groups. Both groups received 40 min/day of conventional upper limb rehabilitation training. The experimental group received 20 min/day of task-oriented training assisted by a force feedback rehabilitation robot, and the control group received 20 min/day of task-oriented training assisted by therapists. Training was provided for 4 weeks, 5 times/week. The Fugl-Meyer motor function assessment of the hand part (FMA-Hand), Action Research Arm Test (ARAT), grip strength, Modified Ashworth scale (MAS), range of motion (ROM), Brunnstrom recovery stages of the hand (BRS-H), and Barthel index (BI) were used to evaluate the effect of two groups before and after treatment. Results: Intra-group comparison: In both groups, the FMA-Hand, ARAT, grip strength, AROM, BRS-H, and BI scores after 4 weeks of treatment were significantly higher than those before treatment (p < 0.05), whereas there was no significant difference in finger flexor MAS scores before and after treatment (p > 0.05). Inter-group comparison: After 4 weeks of treatment, the experimental group’s FMA-Hand total score, ARAT, grip strength, and AROM were significantly better than those of the control group (p < 0.05). However, there were no statistically significant differences in the scores of each sub-item of the FMA-Hand after Bonferroni correction (p > 0.007). In addition, there were no statistically significant differences in MAS, BRS-H, and BI scores (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Hand performance improved in patients with stroke after 4 weeks of task-oriented training. The use of a force feedback hand rehabilitation robot to support task-oriented training showed additional value over conventional task-oriented training in stroke patients with hand dysfunction. Clinical trial registration information: NCT05841108

Multiple sclerosis is a slowly progressive disease, immunosuppressants and other drugs can delay the progression and progression of the disease, but the most patients will be left with varying degrees of neurological deficit symptoms, such as muscle weakness, muscle spasm, ataxia, sensory impairment, dysphagia, cognitive dysfunction, psychological disorders, etc. From the early stage of the disease to the stage of disease progression, professional rehabilitation treatment can reduce the functional dysfunction of multiple sclerosis patients, improve neurological function, and reduce family and social burdens. With the development of various new rehabilitation technologies such as transcranial magnetic stimulation, virtual reality technology, robot-assisted gait, telerehabilitation and transcranial direct current stimulation, the advantages of rehabilitation therapy in multiple sclerosis treatment have been further established, and more treatment means have also been provided for patients.

Spasticity is one of the most common complications after stroke. With the gradual intensification of spasticity, stroke patients will have a series of problems such as joint ankylosis and movement restriction, which affect the daily activities and increase the burden on patients' families, medical staff and society. There are many ways to treat post-stroke spasticity before, including physical therapy and exercise therapy, drug therapy, surgery and so on, but not satisfied because of a few shortcomings. In recent years, many researchers have applied extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) for the treatment of post-stroke spasm and achieved good clinical effect, because it is non-invasive, safe, easy to operate, low cost and other advantages compared with other treatment methods. This article reviews the research progress and existing problems of ESWT in the treatment of post-stroke spasticity.

Objective: To clarify the efficacy of functional magnetic stimulation (FMS) in improving hemiplegic upper extremity function in patients with sub-acute stroke. Methods: In this randomized controlled trial, 40 sub-acute stroke patients with hemiplegia were recruited from inpatient wards in the Department of Rehabilitation and randomly assigned to two groups. In the FMS group, magnetic stimulation was applied to extensor muscle groups of the affected upper extremity. In the low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (LF-rTMS) group, stimulation was applied to the contralesional primary motor cortex. All patients received occupational therapy. Hand and upper extremity motor function was evaluated using the Fugl–Meyer Assessment for upper extremity (FMA-UE), and the Barthel Index (BI) evaluated daily living abilities. Results: The FMA-UE and BI scores were significantly increased in both groups following stimulation. Furthermore, a significant between-group difference was observed in both FMA-UE and BI scores after 2 weeks of therapy. In the FMS group, 6 of 19 patients regained wrist and finger extension abilities, but only 2 patients regained equivalent motor skills in the LF-rTMS group Conclusions: FMS improves paretic upper extremity function and leads to better recovery of motor activity than LF-rTMS. FMS may be a novel modality to improve motor function.

To investigate the effect of gradual attention training on language function with aphasia. Randomized controlled trial. A total of 40 patients (mean age: 53.47 years) with post-stroke aphasia came from the stroke rehabilitation unit of rehabilitation department in the First Hospital of Jilin University, of which 13 (32.5%) had intracerebral hemorrhage, 28 inpatients and 12 outpatients, 11 women and 29 men, 34 within three-month stroke and 6 within three months to one year. All participants were divided into control and experimental groups. Both groups received language treatment 20 minutes a day, six days/week, for five weeks, and the experimental group received gradual attention training 20 minutes a day, six days/week, for five weeks. Language function was assessed pre- and post-treatment by components of the Western Aphasia Battery (WAB) which included spontaneous speech, auditory comprehension, repetition, and naming and then calculated the aphasia quotient (AQ). The mean (SD) AQ of the experimental group and control group, respectively, was 25.71 (12.63) and 26.2 (12.31) at baseline. After treatment, the AQ mean (SD) was 43.08 (15.14) in the experimental group, which showed a significant improvement compared to 33.48 (14.04) in the control group (P = 0.02).All items of WAB were higher in experimental group than those in control group, especially in auditory comprehension and naming (P = 0.02, 0.01). Gradual attention training seemed to improve language function in post-stroke aphasia, specifically function of listening comprehension and naming.

Aphasia is a language network disorder caused by organic brain lesions, which severely affects patients' daily communication and interaction. The therapeutic effect of conventional rehabilitation training alone is limited. Currently, Theta Burst Stimulation (TBS) is a novel therapeutic modality of repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) and is a commonly used patterned rTMS. It appears in the form of burst waves and mimics the natural firing pattern of hippocampal neurons under Theta rhythm. Based on rTMS, TBS embeds a pattern in which three 50 Hz pulse bursts are inserted into a 5 Hz pulse train. This stimulation pattern can induce cortical plasticity in a shorter period of time and is gradually being applied in the treatment of aphasia. Auditory comprehension, as the initial component of language input, involves the reception and storage of linguistic signals, as well as the analysis and integration of lexical semantics. The recovery of this ability plays a prerequisite role in the functional improvement of patients with post-stroke aphasia (PSA). In recent years, research on aphasia has mainly focused on speaking, reading, and writing abilities, with relatively less attention paid to auditory comprehension. Therefore, this article reviews the research progress related to the use of TBS in treating auditory comprehension in aphasia, aiming to provide new ideas and references for the clinical selection of TBS stimulation protocols.