IEEE transactions on neural systems and rehabilitation engineering : a publication of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society
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IEEE Trans Neural Syst Rehabil Eng · Jul 2019
Randomized Controlled TrialEffects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) Combined With Wrist Robot-Assisted Rehabilitation on Motor Recovery in Subacute Stroke Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
Both transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and wrist robot-assisted training have demonstrated to be promising approaches for stroke rehabilitation. However, the effects of the combination of the two treatments in subacute stroke patients are not clear yet. To investigate the effectiveness of combining tDCS and wrist robot-assisted rehabilitation in subacute stroke patients in comparison with the wrist robotic training only, a single-blind, randomized, sham-controlled trial was performed with 40 subacute stroke patients (25 ± 7 days from stroke onset time). ⋯ The combination of wrist robot-assisted training and tDCS did not show additional effects in comparison with wrist robot-assisted training only in subacute stroke patients. The negative results found in this paper are specific for the specific intervention. The timing of delivering the tDCS and the robot-assisted therapy has to be deeply investigated to enhance the effectiveness of the training.