Hand Rehabilitation after Chronic Brain Damage: Effectiveness, Usability and Acceptance of Technological Devices: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Purpose: The aim is to present an overview of existing tools for hand rehabilitation after brain injury and a pilot study to test HandTutor ® in patients with chronic brain damage (CBD). Method:Eighteen patients with CBD have been selected to test perception on effectiveness, usability and acceptance of the device. This group is a sample of people belonging to a wider study consisting in a randomized clinical trial (RCT) that compares: (1) experimental group that received a treatment that combines the use of HandTutor ® with conventional occupational therapy (COT) and (2) control group that receives only COT.Results: Although no statistical significance has been analysed, patients report acceptance and satisfaction with the treatment, decrease of muscle tone, increase of mobility and better performance in activities of daily life. Subjective perceptions have been contrasted with objective measures of the range of motion before and after the session. Although no side effects have been observed after intervention, there has been some usability problems during setup related with putting on gloves in patients with spasticity. Conclusions:This chapter is a step further of evaluating the acceptance of technological devices in chronic patients with CBD, but more research is needed to validate this preliminary results.

Tackling Post-COVID-19 Rehabilitation Challenges: A Pilot Clinical Trial Investigating the Role of Robotic-Assisted Hand Rehabilitation

“…The goniometry results performed using the HandTutor provided data related to the range of motion, specifically, passive flexion and active flexion. This instrument has been employed in previous studies for assessing hand motor function [ 36 , 38 , 39 ]. Although active kinematics are more accurate for evaluating the degree of motor recovery, it has been demonstrated that even passive kinematics can provide an overview of the biomechanical behavior of the studied limb [ 40 ].…”

“…Among the available metrics, this study only utilized and analyzed the passive and active extension of the fingers. Although the sensors are highly sensitive to small variations in the patients’ movements, measurements may vary depending on glove positioning [ 36 ]. Hence, three measurements of passive and active flexion were taken and averaged at both the initial and follow-up evaluation.…”

Effects of Specific Virtual Reality-Based Therapy for the Rehabilitation of the Upper Limb Motor Function Post-Ictus: Randomized Controlled Trial

“…The motor training protocol with SVR devices consisted of the application of three systems: (1) HandTutor© glove [ 40 , 41 ], 3DTutor© [ 42 ], and Rehametrics© [ 43 ]. All systems are based on intensive and repetitive practice through movement instructions and feedback provided by software with virtual environments and tasks that simulate the movements that the stroke survivor requires for daily life [ 44 , 45 , 46 ].…”

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“…Motor training with virtual reality devices consisted of several systems: First, the HandTutor© glove ( Figure 1 a) [ 25 , 26 ] for hand rehabilitation and 3DTutor© ( Figure 1 b) for upper extremities [ 21 ]. Both systems are based on intensive and repetitive practice through movement and feedback instructions provided by the software with virtual environments and tasks that simulate movements that stroke survivors require for daily life [ 27 , 28 , 29 ].…”