Electromyographic bridge for promoting the recovery of hand movements in subacute stroke patients: A randomized controlled trial
Yu-Xuan Zhou, Yang Xia, Jia Huang, Hai-Peng Wang, Xue-Liang Bao, Zheng-Yang Bi, Xiao-Bing Chen, Yu-Jie Gao, Xiao-Ying Lü, Zhi-Gong Wang
The State Key Lab of Bioelectronics, Southeast University, China
DOI: 10.2340/16501977-2256
Lay Abstract
Hand motor impairment is common after stroke and directly affects the stroke survivor’s function and quality of life. In this study, we presented a new electrical stimulation (ES) therapy called “Electromyographic Bridge”(EMGB). By detecting the electromyographic signals from the stroke survivor’s non-paretic limb, the EMGB can facilitate the stroke survivors control their stroke-affected hand to perform wrist extension or hand opening similarly as their unaffected hand. In this study, 36 subacute stroke survivors were recruited for a four-week training. The participants were randomly assigned into two groups. 18 of the participants received new therapy and the remaining participants received the traditional ES therapy, the results favor EMGB over traditional ES therapy for augmenting the recovery of volitional wrist and finger motions. In future studies more attention should be paid to the overall hand function in daily living activities.
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