Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-9-2025
Abstract
Brain disorders such as traumatic brain injury (TBI), stroke, cerebral palsy (CP), and surgical interventions can result in aberrant motor function in the contralateral limbs, resulting in paralysis, weakness, and/or spasticity. It is known that, in the short term, neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES), the application of low-level electrical currents to motor nerves to induce muscle contractions in paralyzed muscles, can stimulate affected muscle groups and increase arm mobility. However, there remains a paucity of longitudinal evidence examining NMES-mediated improvements of arm usage.
Objective
The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a long-term BioSleeve intervention on the recovery of arm mobility in hemiparetic patients.
Study Design
The design of this study is a retrospective cohort study.
Methods
We examined self-reported arm usage in patients with 1) TBI, 2) stroke, 3) hemispherectomy, or 4) CP who wore Axiobionics’ BioSleeve NMES device and compared this to arm usage achieved from years of conventional therapy.
Results
The device was well-tolerated. Patients reported an average increase in arm usage from 9.9% to 43.5%, with the TBI subcohort reporting a consistent increase in arm usage of 5.7% per year over the treatment period.
Conclusions
This study supports the literature suggesting that longitudinal NMES can be used to increase arm usage in hemiplegic patients.
Clinical Relevance Statement
This study supports the use of wearable NMES intervention in the treatment of arm hemiparesis.
Recommended Citation
Muccio, Philip BS, CPO; Salama, Rafik PhD; Chopra, Nipun PhD; Schueller, Josh MS, PT; Durrant, David DC, PhD; Dabrowski, Edward MD. Longitudinal Retrospective Study of a Wearable NMES System to Determine the Effects on Arm Usage in Hemiparetic and Hemiplegic Patients. Journal of Prosthetics and Orthotics 37(1):p 53-63, January 2025.
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Comments
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License 4.0 (CCBY-NC-ND), where it is permissible to download and share the work provided it is properly cited. The work cannot be changed in any way or used commercially without permission from the journal.