Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 14, 2025
A Rehabilitation Program of Exoskeleton-assisted Body Weight-Supported Treadmill Training with Non-immersive Virtual Reality for Stroke Patients
Published on: May 16, 2025
Optimized Home Rehabilitation Technology Reduces Upper Extremity Impairment Compared to a Conventional Home Exercise
Veronica A Swanson1, Christopher Johnson2, Daniel K Zondervan3
1Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Henry Samueli School of Engineering, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
Background:
Upper extremity (UE) stroke rehabilitation requires patients to perform exercises at home, yet patients show limited benefit from paper-based home exercise programs.
Objective:
To compare the effectiveness of 2 home exercise programs for reducing UE impairment: a paper-based approach and a sensorized exercise system that incorporates recommended design features for home rehabilitation technology.
Methods:
In this single-blind, randomized controlled trial, 27 participants in the subacute phase of stroke were assigned to the sensorized exercise (n = 14) or conventional therapy group (n = 13), though 2 participants in the conventional therapy group were lost to follow-up. Participants were instructed to perform self-guided movement training at home for at least 3 hours/week for 3 consecutive weeks. The sensorized exercise group used FitMi, a computer game with 2 puck-like sensors that encourages movement intensity and auto-progresses users through 40 exercises. The conventional group used a paper book of exercises. The primary outcome measure was the change in Upper Extremity Fugl-Meyer (UEFM) score from baseline to follow-up. Secondary measures included the Modified Ashworth Scale for spasticity (MAS) and the Visual Analog Pain (VAP) scale.
Results:
Participants who used FitMi improved by an average of 8.0 ± 4.6 points on the UEFM scale compared to 3.0 ± 6.1 points for the conventional participants, a significant difference (t-test, P = .029). FitMi participants exhibited no significant changes in UE MAS or VAP scores.
Conclusions:
A sensor-based exercise system incorporating a suite of recommended design features significantly and safely reduced UE impairment compared to a paper-based, home exercise program.
Trial Registration:
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03503617.
