Robot Assisted Virtual Rehabilitation for the Hand Post Stroke (RAVR)

Completed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Stroke, Acute

In brief

This study investigates the effects of intensive, high dosage task and impairment based training of the hemiparetic hand, using haptic robots integrated with complex gaming and virtual reality simulations. There is a time-limited period of post-ischemic heightened neuronal plasticity during which intensive training may optimally affect the recovery of motor skills, indicating that the timing of rehabilitation is as important as the dosing. However, recent literature indicates a controversy regarding both the value of intensive, high dosage as well as the optimal timing for therapy in the first two months after stroke. This study is designed to empirically investigate this controversy. It is evident that providing additional, intensive therapy during the acute rehabilitation stay is more complicated to implement and difficult for patients to tolerate, than initiating it in the outpatient setting, immediately after discharge. The robotic/VR system is specifically designed to deliver hand and arm training when motion and strength are limited, using adaptive algorithms to drive individual finger movement, gain adaptation and workspace modification to increase finger and arm range of motion, and haptic and visual feedback from mirrored movements to reinforce motor networks in the lesioned hemisphere.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT03569059

Run by

New Jersey Institute of Technology

People needed

115

Starts

2018-08-24

Expected to finish

2024-08-15

Last updated by the study team

2024-10-03

Who can join

Age: 30 and older, up to 80. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• unilateral right or left sided stroke within 7 to 30 days of starting study
• sufficient cognitive function to follow instructions
• Fugl-Meyer (FM) of ≤ 49/66
• intact cutaneous sensation (e.g. ability to detect <4.17 N stimulation using Semmes- Weinstein nylon filaments

You may not qualify if…

• prior stroke with persistent motor impairment or other disabling neurologic condition
• non-independent before stroke
• receptive aphasia
• hemispatial neglect or severe proprioceptive loss
• significant illnesses
• severe arthritis that limits arm and hand movements
• a score of ≥1 on the NIHSS limb ataxia item

Where it is running

• Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation — Saddle Brook, New Jersey, United States
• Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation — West Orange, New Jersey, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

Trial information comes from ClinicalTrials.gov and is refreshed daily. TrialsForMe does not provide medical care and does not run the studies it lists.