In the January edition of Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Dr. Heidi Fischer of the Sensory Motor Performance Program, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL and Dr. Rymer of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL report on Use of Visual Force Feedback to Improve Digit Force Direction During Pinch Grip in Persons With Stroke http://bit.ly/hIiTQW .
The paper notes that Following stroke, the paretic fingers generate digit forces with a higher than normal proportion of shear force to compression force during grip. This misdirected digit force may lead to finger-object slip and failure to stably grasp an object.
The HandTutor system can be used to intensively exercise isolated individual finger movements that enable practice of grip, pinch and opposition movements of the fingers. The dedicated rehabilitation software uses virtual functional tasks that provide the patient with instructions on how to move their fingers. In this way the patient exercises both extensors and flexors to properly co-ordinate during these movements. Virtual functional tasks employ augmented feedback so that the patient can understand whether they have done the movement correctly. Augmented feedback is a critical element in motor learning and therapists use augmented feedback when the patient has very limited finger motor sensory ability and control of finger movements. Augmented feedback is employed as the patients finger range of motion can not be sensed by the patients own intrinsic proprioception or seen using other extrinsic feedback methods e.g. mirror feedback.
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