Active clinical trials for "Stroke"

Low-intensity LASER therapy on the spastic muscle, would result in improving muscle performance and improving the functional capacity of individuals under the exercises imposed by physical therapy. In this study the effect of low level LASER therapy will be evaluated on spastic planter flexor of chronic stroke patients and on their gait parameters. After this study post stroke planter flexor spasticity will be cured by low level LASER which will help to improve their gait mechanics.

Normoxia Hyperoxia (NBO) is a neuroprotective approach that can be implemented early. NBO is simple and non-invasive and can be used at home or in an ambulance to ensure the shortest possible time after cerebral ischemia occurs. The previous study by the investigators suggested that NBO therapy in the early stage of cerebral ischemia has a neuroprotective effect on ischemic brain injury. Although the neuroprotective effect of NBO has been demonstrated, the optimal duration of treatment for NBO to exert neuroprotective effect is still unclear. Therefore, further discussion of the duration of NBO treatment will contribute to the clinical application of NBO and provide a definite theoretical basis for the treatment of cerebral infarction.

The scientific hypothesis was based on data on the effectiveness of the usage of robotic mechanotherapy and virtual reality technologies. Purpose of the study is the development and scientific substantiation of the effectiveness and safety of rehabilitation programs using the technology of robotic mechanotherapy (exoskeleton) with functional electrical stimulation (FES) and virtual reality (VR) technology with biofeedback (BFB) in restoring walking and balance disorders at the stationary stage of medical rehabilitation in patients in acute and early recovery periods of ischemic stroke. The duration of the study is 2 years. The study is planned to include 120 patients. Anamnesis collection, physical and neurological examination will be carried out for all patients upon admission. Diagnostic transcranial magnetic stimulation, electroencephalography and stabilometry will also be performed upon admission and discharge. Adverse events will be assessed. On the last day of the study, the dynamics of the volume and strength of movements, functional independence and spasticity will be assessed according to the scales (MRC, NIHSS, mAS, mRS, Rivermead, Hauser walking index, Tinetti scale, SHRM, ICF, Tampa scale, EQ-5D-5L), as well as the assessment of mental and cognitive status according to HADs and MoCA. Patients will be randomly divided into 4 groups: 3 main and 1 control. All patients will undergo a basic rehabilitation course. In the first group (exoskeleton with FES): 10 procedures, 5 times a week, the duration of the course of medical rehabilitation is 12-14 days. The total duration of one procedure is 1 hour. In the second group (VR technologies with BFB): 10 procedures, 5 times a week, the duration of the course of medical rehabilitation is 12-14 days. The total duration of one procedure is 30 minutes. In the third group (Complex application of robotic mechanotherapy technologies with FES and VR with biofeedback): 10 procedures, 5 times a week, the duration of the course of medical rehabilitation is 12-14 days. The total duration of training with VR is 30 minutes, then no earlier than 2 hours later, training on an exoskeleton, lasting no more than 1 hour. Patients in the control group will receive comprehensive rehabilitation procedures as prescribed, during the course of treatment accepted in a medical institution.

Stroke is reported as one of leading causes of adult disability. Recent advances in in revascularization therapy have had a significant impact on clinical and functional outcomes in patients with ischemic stroke. However, revascularization therapy can only be applied to a limited population of patients. Many stroke survivors are still suffering from significant motor impairments and gait disturbance. The recovery of the ambulatory function in stroke patients is one of the most important goals of their rehabilitation and a critical factor influencing the patient's home and social activities. One of the most frequently occurring disabilities in stroke patients is the ambulatory impairment. Ambulation is a key factor in performing the activities of daily living. About 80% of stroke patients showed the ambulatory impairment in acute stroke phase, and many stroke patients were not fully regain the ambulatory function although the ambulatory function was rapidly restored within 6 months after onset. Because the ambulatory function is the most important relating factor on activities of daily living and quality of life, one of the most important goals of stroke rehabilitation can be the achievement of independent gait. The conventional gait rehabilitation has been performed as a 1:1 training session between the therapist and a stroke patient. This gait rehabilitation can make a significant burden on the therapist and restriction of the rehabilitation time. The limited number of rehabilitation facilities and therapists for the number of stroke patients requiring rehabilitation means that many stroke patients might receive not enough gait rehabilitation. To overcome these issues, a lot of studies have been conducted to develop rehabilitation robots for effective gait training. Nonetheless, in previous studies regarding robot-assisted gait rehabilitation, the stroke patients varied in terms of their baseline gait ability, functional level, and onset of stroke. In addition, robots for gait rehabilitation robots were various such as exoskeletal, end effector and overground gait types with varied frequency, duration and intensity of the gait rehabilitation training. Such heterogeneity inevitably limited the quality of the studies as well as the application in clinical practice. For an adequate robot-assisted gait rehabilitation in clinical practice, the functional level and the phase of stroke patients should be taken into consideration. In addition, for the gait rehabilitation robots to be applied effectively, it also should be considered to have a defined indication as well as a protocol including frequency, duration and intensity of robot-assisted gait rehabilitation. A robot could have efficiency in assisting patients to practice correct and repetitive movements with the adequate quantity and intensity of training. The robot-assisted gait rehabilitation using a treadmill-based robot for location control has increased in stroke rehabilitation. However, the conditions of treadmill gait differ from those of actual overground gait so that the increase in gait ability after treadmill-based training might not directly translate into the improvement of overground gait. In addition, a drawback of such gait training using a robot for location control could be the difficulty in adapting the robotic movements to the patient's efforts to move the muscles and to the passive characteristics of the musculoskeletal system. On the contrary, overground gait training has been reported to improve the gait speed and endurance to a greater degree than treadmill gait training in stroke patients. Recently, overground gait training using an exoskeletal wearable robot has been proposed to promote the activation of the nervous system by inducing an active participation from the patient who performed active balance control, weight shift, and muscle activation. In the previous study, the effect of gait training using an exoskeletal robot was reported in patients with incomplete paraplegia caused by spinal cord injury. Nevertheless, lack of studies have reported on the effect of gait training using an exoskeletal wearable robot in subacute stroke patients.

The investigators will conduct a randomized, double-blinded, sham-controlled trial of approximately 60 patients with minor stroke and post-stroke mild cognitive impairment (psMCI). Participants will be individually randomized on enrollment using a random number generator to treatment with anodal tDCS + computerized cognitive treatment (CCT) versus sham + CCT (approximately 30 patients in each arm). Clinical evaluation including assessment of cognition will be performed pre- and post-intervention by individuals on the study team blinded to the participant's intervention. Participants will also undergo functional neuroimaging with magnetoencephalography (MEG) pre- and post-intervention (1, 3, and 6 months post-stroke to evaluate for initial and longer-term effects of treatment on cerebral activation patterns and functional connectivity). Neuroimaging and clinical outcomes will be assessed to determine the effect of tDCS versus sham + CCT on psMCI.

The primary aim of this project will be to determine the effects of the tRNS-augmented unilateral and bilateral MT, and their effects relative to the control interventions (sham tRNS with unilateral or bilateral MT) on restoring health outcomes including motor function, daily function, quality of life and self-efficacy, and motor control strategy as well as brain activities (electroencephalography, EEG) in stroke patients.

Ischemic stroke is a common clinical disease, often accompanied by motor dysfunction and cognitive impairment. At present, clinical treatment for patients with ischemic stroke recovery is limited and ineffective. The emergence of NGF has surprised the field of neurorehabilitation, but the clinical effect is not satisfactory. The main problem is that NGF is a macromolecular material with a molecular weight of 13.4 KD, which is difficult to penetrate the blood brain barrier. A large number of previous studies in our team have found that electroacupuncture with specific stimulation mode can open the blood brain barrier and induce NGF into the brain。Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of specific stimulation mode electroacupuncture combined with NGF treatment together with rehabilitation training on patients with ischemic stroke recovery period and to explore the mechanism of this combination therapy to improve brain function, which creates a new method and theoretical basis for nerve rehabilitation of integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine.

The objective of the DISTALS Study is to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the Tigertriever 13 Revascularization Device in restoring blood flow in the neurovasculature by removing thrombus in patients presenting within 24 hours of onset with an ischemic stroke with disabling neurological deficits due to a primary distal vessel occlusion (DVO), as compared to medical management.

Specific Aim 1: Complete pilot testing of study protocol in individuals with chronic stroke for feasibility evaluation and protocol refinement. Specific Aim 2: Estimate the preliminary effect of CO-OP+tDCS on activity performance in individuals with chronic stroke.

There is a lack of complex studies which could establish the association between genetic circadian factors with the features and short-term outcomes of ischemic stroke, as well as the effects of various auxiliary therapies for circadian rhythm modulation for neuroplasticity enhancement and improvement of short-term outcomes in ischemic stroke. The main research hypothesis is that circadian factors influence the recovery from ischemic stroke via sleep-mediated regulation of synaptic plasticity. The project aims at the investigation of the influence of combined melatonin therapy and blue light exposure on molecular circadian biomarkers, sleep characteristics, neuroplasticity markers and stroke outcome in acute stroke patients. This study is a prospective, interventional, randomized placebo-controlled trial.