Robot-assisted upper limb rehabilitation in chronic stroke patients

The goal of this study is to evaluate the effects of upper limb robot-assisted treatment in chronic post-stroke patients using clinical outcome measures and kinematic parameters. Thirty-two chronic stroke patients participated in the study. Fugl-Meyer (FM) Assessment scale and Motricity Index (MI) were used for clinical assessment, and a set of kinematic parameters was computed. A significant decrease in motor impairment after the robot-assisted treatment (FM p<0.001 and MI p<0.001) was found. Movement mean velocity (p<0.001) and accuracy (p<0.05) increased. Robotic treatment is effective to reduce motor impairment in chronic stroke patients. The exclusive use of clinical scales do not provide an exhaustive evaluation of effectiveness of treatment and our study suggests that kinematic parameters should be computed as well.