Active clinical trials for "Stroke"

The overall goal of the study is to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of a home-based tele-motion-rehabilitation (TMR) program in improving functional status of people who had stroke. We hypothesize that the clinical effectiveness within a mock-up set up in the hospital of the TMR will be greater in comparison to self-training exercise carried out at home in improving outcomes of Range of Motion and functional performance of the weak upper extremity. Twenty-four subjects who had a stroke, aged between 18 and 80 years, and living at home will participate. Subjects will be 2-72 months post stroke, and no longer receiving rehabilitation as in or out patient. They will have moderate impairment of the affected upper extremity determined by range of motion (ROM). Subjects will be evaluated for motor and cognitive abilities for a total of 5-6 hours by a skilled therapist who will be blind to group's assignment of the subjects. The evaluations will be repeated 3 times, once before the intervention commences, once immediately following the intervention and once four weeks after the intervention. Subjects will be randomized into the two groups (TMR versus self-training treatment) with matching for level of impairment of the upper extremity by a person who is not part of the study. Each subject will receive twelve 45-60 min sessions over 4 weeks while seated. The control group will receive self-training exercises that are based on conventional therapy using principles of motor control and will include training of upper extremity movements in order to achieve better use of the affected arm in ADL. The experimental group will receive TMR treatment of comparable duration and intensity to those in the conventional treatment group with remote online monitoring by the therapist. Treatment feedback will be given in the form of Knowledge of results (game scores) and Knowledge of performance (feedback of compensatory movements made while using the upper extremity) to enhance motor learning. The software will generate a report which will include the duration and type of exercises performed by the subject. The Gertner TMR system is implemented via Microsoft's Kinect three-dimensional) camera-based gesture recognition technology. Using the patient's natural hand and body movements control all activity within customized computer games. The system runs off a standard desktop computer and is displayed on a large television screen.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a rehabilitation (physiotherapy) program in patients with acute ischemic stroke in Acute Vascular Unit and in general ward of Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, and to verify the degree of disability at fourteenth and third month, functional improvement at third month, the frequency of deaths and incidence of complications due to immobility and quantify the time spent in hospital.

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effect of Melatonin (in a dosage of 14mg daily) for a better clinical outcome in the period three days post stroke.

Stroke is the largest cause of adult disability in the United Kingdom. Loss of hand function, muscle weakness, pain, and joint deformities are persistent and disabling problems for nearly half of all stroke survivors. This can, in part, result from patients not getting adequate therapy targeting the hand and arm in the very early stages of rehabilitation. Previous research has highlighted the importance of early rehabilitation interventions after stroke. Although in stroke patients the damage is to the brain rather than the limbs, muscle wastage (atrophy) can occur soon after stroke through non-use. Muscle atrophy can even occur in those who have retained some degree of active arm movement. Electrical stimulation (ES) is a painless treatment in which small pulses of electrical current from a battery operated portable device are used to activate a paralysed muscle and produce a strong muscle contraction. ES has been shown to increase brain activity and can hence influence the formation of new nerve pathways (known as neuroplasticity) to replace those damaged by stroke. Previous studies have concluded that six weeks of ES to the muscle on the back of the forearm improved the chance of a person recovering arm function. However, as the intensity of treatment was not sufficient to prevent the complications identified in this proposal, the impact of any functional benefit was significantly limited. We plan to build on previous research by training clinical therapists to operate ES devices; starting ES much earlier after stroke; applying a higher intensity treatment to more of the forearm muscles (i.e. both the front and back of the forearm) and providing treatment for a longer period of time than previously carried out. We will evaluate the feasibility of incorporating ES into a patient self-management programme to enable independent use outside of routine therapist led rehabilitation sessions.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether novel upper extremity rehabilitation system for patients with stroke(e-glove system) are effective in the rehabilitation compared to conventional occupational therapy

The purpose of the study was to analyze the effect of IS and BS on dynamics ventilatory and asymmetry of the chest wall in patients after stroke .

In this study, the investigators wondered whether bihemispheric transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) would be capable to potentialize the effects of physical therapy on upper limb rehabilitation of chronic stroke patients. Moreover, the study aims to investigate the pattern of physiological variables involved in the recovery of these patients. For this purpose, patients included will be submitted to 10 sessions with active or sham bihemispheric tDCS associated with intensive and individual physical therapy session.

The investigators will evaluate the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale/Score (NIHSS)in patients with stroke, and then give Minocycline 100mg po every 12 hours or placebo for five days, then perform periodic evaluations to determine the status and degree of neurological sequelae developed.

The procedure involves: (1) assisted hand movement by a mechanical device, (2) mechanical vibration applied to the surface of the forearm, and (3) stimulation of the brain with either transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) or transcortical direct current stimulation (DCS). These 3 components of the procedure are carried out simultaneously. Each subject will be evaluated pre- and post-treatment with several clinical tests of functional movement. The hypotheses of this project are that the AMES+rTMS and AMES+tDCS procedures are safe and will enable most of the stroke patients to recover finger extension.

The purpose of this protocol is to determine if individuals who had a stroke more than one year before entering the study and whose ankles remain substantially impaired are able to sense and move the affected leg better after 9-13 weeks of treatment with a robotic therapy device (AMES).