Fong Kenneth N K, Pak Jasmine P Y, Koo Alissa H L, Szeto Maggie M K, Wong Natalie M T, Yau Keily K Y, Toh Sharon F M, Lou Vivian W, Tsang Hector W H, Lau Gary K K
Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR.
Research Centre for Assistive Technology, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR.
Wearable Technol. 2025 Jul 17;6:e33. doi: 10.1017/wtc.2025.10017. eCollection 2025.
This is a proof-of-concept study to compare the effects of a 2-week program of "Remind-to-move" (RTM) treatment using closed-loop and open-loop wearables for hemiparetic upper extremity in patients with chronic stroke in the community. The RTM open-loop wearable device has been proven in our previous studies to be useful to address the learned nonuse phenomenon of the hemiparetic upper extremity. A closed-loop RTM wearable device, which emits reminding cues according to actual arm use, was developed in this study. A convenience sample of 16 participants with chronic unilateral stroke recruited in the community was engaged in repetitive upper extremity task-specific practice for 2 weeks while wearing either a closed-loop or an open-loop ambulatory RTM wearable device on their affected hand for 3 hrs a day. Evaluations were conducted at pre-/post-intervention and follow-up after 4 weeks using upper extremity motor performance behavioral measures, actual arm use questionnaire, and the kinematic data obtained from the device. Results showed that both open-loop and closed-loop training groups achieved significant gains in all measures at posttest and follow-up evaluations. The closed-loop group showed a more significant improvement in movement frequency, hand functions, and actual arm use than did the open-loop group. Our findings supported the use of closed-loop wearables, which showed greater effects in terms of promoting the hand use of the hemiparetic upper extremity than open-loop wearables among patients with chronic stroke.
这是一项概念验证研究，旨在比较为期2周的“提醒移动”（RTM）治疗方案对社区慢性卒中患者偏瘫上肢使用闭环和开环可穿戴设备的效果。在我们之前的研究中，RTM开环可穿戴设备已被证明有助于解决偏瘫上肢的习得性废用现象。本研究开发了一种闭环RTM可穿戴设备，该设备可根据手臂的实际使用情况发出提醒信号。从社区招募了16名慢性单侧卒中患者的便利样本，他们在受影响的手上佩戴闭环或开环动态RTM可穿戴设备，每天3小时，同时进行为期2周的重复性上肢特定任务练习。在干预前/后以及4周后的随访中，使用上肢运动性能行为测量、实际手臂使用问卷以及从设备获得的运动学数据进行评估。结果显示，开环和闭环训练组在测试后和随访评估的所有测量指标上均取得了显著进展。与开环组相比，闭环组在运动频率、手部功能和实际手臂使用方面表现出更显著的改善。我们的研究结果支持使用闭环可穿戴设备，在促进慢性卒中患者偏瘫上肢的手部使用方面，闭环可穿戴设备比开环可穿戴设备显示出更大的效果。
