Feasibility of using the RAPAEL Smart Glove in Upper Limb Physical Therapy for Patients after Stroke: A Randomized Controlled Trial

摘要

We aim to assess the feasibility of using the RA-PAEL Smart Glove as an assistive tool for therapists in clinical rehabilitation therapy settings and to investigate if it can be used to improve the motor recovery rate of stroke survivors. Our randomized controlled study involved 13 post-stroke inpatients. An experimental treatment consisted of one 30-minute game-assisted therapy and one 30-minute conventional therapy per day while the control treatment consisted of two 30-minute conventional therapies. Each therapy block consisted of 15 days over a period of 3 weeks. The measured outcomes were the scores on the Wolf Motor Function Test and the active range of motion for the forearm and the wrist. The mean Wolf Motor Function Test score for the group that received game therapies as well as conventional therapies was significantly higher than that for the group who received only conventional therapies. The results suggest that the motor recovery rate of the clinical rehabilitation therapies can be improved when wearable sensors and therapeutic games are used by therapists in their routine therapy practice.