We studied the performance of a robotic orthosis designed to assist the paretic hand after stroke. It is wearable and fully user-controlled, serving two possible roles: as a therapeutic tool that facilitates device-mediated hand exercises to recover neuromuscular function or as an assistive device for use in everyday activities to aid functional use of the hand. We present the clinical outcomes of a pilot study designed as a feasibility test for these hypotheses. 11 chronic stroke (>2 years) patients with moderate muscle tone (Modified Ashworth Scale $\leq 2$ in upper extremity) engaged in a month-long training protocol using the orthosis. Individuals were evaluated using standardized outcome measures, both with and without orthosis assistance. Fugl-Meyer post intervention scores without robotic assistance showed improvement focused specifically at the distal joints of the upper limb, suggesting the use of the orthosis as a rehabilitative device for the hand. Action Research Arm Test scores post intervention with robotic assistance showed that the device may serve an assistive role in grasping tasks. These results highlight the potential for wearable and user-driven robotic hand orthoses to extend the use and training of the affected upper limb after stroke.

中文翻译：

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中风后可穿戴手持机器人进行用户驱动的功能运动训练

我们研究了旨在帮助卒中后paretic手的机器人矫形器的性能。它是可穿戴的，并且完全由用户控制，具有两个可能的作用：作为一种治疗工具，可促进器械介导的手部锻炼以恢复神经肌肉功能，或作为辅助设备用于日常活动中，以辅助手部的功能使用。我们提出了一项初步研究的临床结果，这些研究被设计为这些假设的可行性检验。11例中度肌张力的慢性卒中（> 2年）患者（改良Ashworth量表 $ \ leq 2 $ 在上肢）​​使用矫形器进行了一个月的训练。使用标准化结果测量对个体进行评估，无论是否使用矫形器。在没有机器人协助的情况下，Fugl-Meyer干预后评分显示出改善主要集中在上肢的远端关节，这表明将矫形器用作手部康复设备。机器人辅助干预后的Action Research Arm Test分数表明，该设备可能在完成任务中起辅助作用。这些结果凸显了可穿戴和用户驱动的机器人手矫形器在中风后扩大受影响的上肢的使用和训练的潜力。