Cognitive Impairments Improved With HandTutor Following Stroke

S.E. McEwen etal of the Graduate Department of Rehabilitation Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.completed a study whose objective was to examine the literature regarding the use of cognitive strategies to acquire motor skills in people who have had a stroke, to determine which strategies are in use and to compile evidence of their effectiveness.
The results found were that out of twenty-six articles reviewed seven investigated general cognitive strategies and 19 investigated task-specific strategies. The most commonly studied task-specific strategy was motor imagery. Findings suggest that general strategy training improves performance in both trained and untrained activities compared to traditional therapy; and that a specific motor imagery protocol can improve mobility and recovery in the affected upper extremity in people living with the chronic effects of stroke.
The conclusion reached was that this foundational evidence supports the further development of novel cognitive strategy-based interventions with the intention of improving long-term stroke outcomes.
THe HandTutor improves fine motor, sensory and cognitive impairments through intensive active exercises with augmented feedback.
The HandTutor™ system is an active exercise based hand rehabilitation program that uses the accepted methods of impairment oriented training (IOT) with augmented feedback. The HandTutor™ evaluates and treats finger and hand movement dysfunction through exercises that encourage extension/ flexion of the finger(s) and wrist.
The HandTutor™ system consists of a safe comfortable glove, with position and speed sensors that precisely record finger and wrist motion, and dedicated rehabilitation software. The ergonomic gloves come in five sizes for both right and left hands. The rehabilitation system employs the known concept of biofeedback to give occupational and physical therapists access to an affordable user friendly hand rehabilitation package. The HandTutor™ and its sister devices (the ArmTutor and LegTutor) can also be used in combination with the 3DTutor™ for arm rehabilitation. The HandTutor™ is CE and FDA certified. See www.HandTutor.com for more information.