Wearable Aid to Help Stroke Recovery Faster

Stroke Recovery – Scientists at the University of Southampton are to develop for trial a new wearable technology to help people who have had a stroke recover use of their arm and hand.
A team of scientists led by Professor Jane Burridge, are in the process of creating a wireless sleeve, which will provide automatic, intelligent information about muscle movement and strength while stroke recovering patients practice every-day tasks at home. The data will be available on a computer tablet to enable patients to review their progress as well as to allow therapists to tailor their individual rehabilitation programs.
The wearable technology is the first to incorporate mechanomyography (MMG) microphone-like sensors that detect the vibration of a muscle when it contracts, and inertial measurement units (IMU), comprising tri-axial accelerometers, gyroscopes and magnetometers that detect movement.

The sleeve will help stroke patients regain the use of their arm and hand, reduce time spent with therapists and allow them to have the recommended 45 minutes daily therapy more flexibly. It will also be used to assess patients’ problems accurately as well as more cheaply and practically than using laboratory-based technologies.
As stroke rehabilitation is increasingly becoming home-based, as patients are often discharged from hospital after only a few days, the wearable tech encourages independence and avoids problems associated with prolonged hospital stays. However, some patients struggle to carry out the exercises and they may question whether what they are doing is correct.
Similarly therapists don’t have objective measurements about their patients’ muscle activity or ability to move. Rehabilitation technologies like our sleeve will address problems faced by both patients and therapists.
About 150,000 people in the UK have a stroke each year and, despite improvements in acute care that results in better survival rates, about 60 per cent of people with moderate to severe strokes fail to recover useful function of their arm and hand.
The two-year project has been funded with a grant of just under £1 million from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) through its Invention for Innovation (i4i) programme and is a collaboration between the University of Southampton and Imperial College London, two medical technology consultancies; Maddison and Tactiq and NHS Trusts in Bristol and Portsmouth.