Institute of Neuroscience, Université catholique de Louvain, BE-1200 Brussels, Belgium.
J Rehabil Med. 2012 Mar;44(3):210-7. doi: 10.2340/16501977-0926.
To compare kinematic indices in age-matched healthy subjects and stroke patients, by evaluating various tasks performed with a robotic device, and to provide an objective and standardized protocol to assess upper limb impairments in stroke patients.
A prospective cohort study.
Age-matched healthy subjects (n = 10) and stroke patients (n = 10).
Various kinematic indices were analysed from 3 randomly assigned tasks performed by the affected arm in stroke patients and the dominant arm in healthy subjects. These tasks, composed of large-amplitude, targeted and geometrical movements, were standardized and performed with the ReaPLAN robotic device.
For large-amplitude movements, the stroke patients' path lengths were less constant in amplitude, less rectilinear and less smooth than those for healthy subjects (p < 0.001). For the targeted movements, the stroke patients' path lengths were less rectilinear than those of the healthy subjects (p < 0.001). For the geometrical movements, the stroke patients had greater difficulty making the requested shapes compared with the healthy subjects (p < 0.01).
Our study proposes an objective and standardized protocol to assess stroke patients' upper limbs with any robotic device. We suggest that further randomized controlled trials could use this quantitative tool to assess the efficacy of treatments such as robot-assisted therapy.
通过评估使用机器人设备完成的各种任务，比较年龄匹配的健康受试者和脑卒中患者的运动学指标，并提供一种客观且标准化的方案来评估脑卒中患者的上肢损伤。
前瞻性队列研究。
年龄匹配的健康受试者（n=10）和脑卒中患者（n=10）。
分析脑卒中患者患侧手臂和健康受试者惯用侧手臂在 3 项随机分配任务中产生的各种运动学指标。这些任务由大振幅、靶向和几何运动组成，采用 ReaPLAN 机器人设备进行标准化和执行。
对于大振幅运动，脑卒中患者的运动路径长度在振幅上的变化更小、更不直和更不流畅，这与健康受试者相比差异有统计学意义（p<0.001）。对于靶向运动，脑卒中患者的运动路径长度不如健康受试者直（p<0.001）。对于几何运动，脑卒中患者比健康受试者更难以完成所需的形状（p<0.01）。
本研究提出了一种客观且标准化的方案，利用任何机器人设备来评估脑卒中患者的上肢。我们建议，进一步的随机对照试验可以使用这种定量工具来评估机器人辅助治疗等治疗方法的疗效。
