Title : The impact of mirror therapy soft hand rehabilitation machine training on cortical activation in stroke patients: An fNIRS study
Abstract:
Objective: Post-stroke hand dysfunction is a primary cause of decreased ability in daily living, and there is a significant demand for hand function rehabilitation. Soft-hand rehabilitation robot training based on mirror therapy is increasingly being applied in rehabilitation training. However, there is currently limited research on the neural effects of combined treatment with mirror therapy and soft-hand rehabilitation robots in rehabilitation training. This study intends to analyze the cortical activation of stroke patients during training with the mirror therapy soft-hand rehabilitation robot using Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS), hoping to provide scientific theoretical support for the hand function rehabilitation of stroke patients.
Method: In this trial, 20 stroke patients underwent passive flexion-extension training using a soft-hand rehabilitation robot (RT) and training using a soft-hand rehabilitation Robot Mirror Therapy (RMT), respectively. fNIRS (106 channels) was used to assess the cortical activation of patients, with an interval of one week between two assessments. The Primary Motor Cortex (PMC), premotor cortex, and supplementary motor cortex (PreM&SMC) were designated as regions of interest for measuring the relative changes in cerebral oxygenated hemoglobin, deoxygenated hemoglobin, and total hemoglobin concentrations.
Results: The subjects activated the motor cortex in both the RT group and the RMT group. However, the RT group mainly activated the dominant hemisphere pathway, whereas the RMT group not only activated the dominant hemisphere but also activated a wider range of pathways in the non-dominant hemisphere. Compared to the RT group, the activation of pathways in the region of interest was significantly increased in the RMT group (P<0.05).
Conclusion: fNIRS technology indicates that mirror therapy soft-hand rehabilitation robot training can induce broader and more significant bilateral cortical activation in stroke patients, and its effect is superior to that of pure robotic passive training.
