When Dr. JoonHo Shin and his team at Korea National Rehabilitation Center (Department of Stroke Rehabilitation) used virtual reality-based rehabilitation training with a RAPAEL Smart Glove in parallel with Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES), he found that the rehabilitative effects were more pronounced compared to using FES alone. The results were published in the academic journal Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (APMR).

APMR is published by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (ACRM), a gathering of rehabilitation medicine experts from around the globe whose chief objective is to improve the health and quality of the lives of people with disabilities through scientific research.

The RAPAEL Smart Glove is a device that enables people with central nervous system disorders such as stroke patients to rehabilitate their fingers, wrists, and lower arms through virtual reality-based game training. RAPAEL’s rehabilitation games were developed to simultaneously stimulate the patient’s visual and auditory senses to aid in the re-learning of the brain’s motor area.

The Functional Electrical Stimulation device delivers an electric shock to the muscle of the affected area of the body, which activates the nerves and muscles. This stimulation induces movement and promotes improved function.

In clinical trials, 41 hemiplegic patients took part in the study – 20 of them using both the RAPAEL Smart Glove and FES, and 21 making sole, periodic use of FES.

The research team trained each team for a total of 4 weeks. Each team was trained 30 minutes daily for 20 sets. The results were evaluated two, four, and eight weeks after the start of the training. The evaluations used the Fugl Meyer Assessment, a stroke-specific performance based impairment index that assesses motor functioning in the upper limbs, balance, sensation and joint functioning; and the Wolf Function Test, which was developed to quantify the upper extremity and hand motor abilities.

Their results showed that in the Fugl Meyer Assessment, VR-RES significantly improved the hand function as opposed to using FES alone. In fact, VR-FES showed meaningful improvement in most evaluation methods. On the basis of these results, the National Rehabilitation Center has concluded that VR-FES training is a more effective rehabilitation strategy for post-stroke patients in rehabilitating their upper extremities.

Dr. JoonHo Shin from the Korea National Rehabilitation Center remarked, “FES is widely used on post-stroke patients for upper extremities rehabilitation and is effective in stimulating the nerves for muscle contraction. However, compared to its functionality, the applications are limited, thus muting their effect.” He continued, “The tests were carried out in anticipation of seeing improved results by including the virtual reality game-based RAPAEL Smart Glove in the rehabilitation, and this turned out to be the case.”

CEO of NEOFECT Hoyoung Ban commented, “Every year, Korea adds 100,000 stroke patients; the United States adds 800,000 stroke patients who then suffer from reduced mobility and decreased language abilities due to hemiplegia.” He continued, “NEOFECT is committed to using the RAPAEL Smart Glove with FES to find more effective ways of rehabilitation so that more patients can return to their daily lives.”