POST STROKE REHABILITATION: CLINICAL EFFICACY OF BCI-DRIVEN HAND EXOSKELETON IN COMPARISON WITH "AMADEO" ROBOTIC MECHANOTHERAPY

Motor function deficit due to stroke is one of the leading causes for disability among working-age population. The most effective evidence-based treatment strategies are task oriented exercise approaches including constrained-induced movement therapy. Robot-assisted training provides high amount of repetitions and feedback to patient. Adjuvant therapies such as mirror therapy and motor imagery show their effectiveness if used in combination with basic neurorehabilitation methods and are treatment of choice for patients with severe motor impairment. Brain-computer interfaces allow to control motor imagery as a process by giving different type of feedback (e.g. kinesthetic via exoskeleton) during training sessions. It is poorly known if kinesthetic motor imagery is more effective comparing to robot-assisted training as a part of post-stroke rehabilitation. Materials and methods: 55 patients with arm paresis >1 month after stroke were enrolled in the current study. Screening and randomization were performed. Participants underwent rehabilitation treatment where BCI controlled motor imagery training in main group and robot-assisted training in control group were included. Motor function of the paretic arm was assessed using Action Research Arm Test (ARAT) and Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) before and after intervention. Results: Recovery of upper extremity motor function did not correlate with time since stroke and age of participants neither in main group, nor in control group. Correlations between change in motor scales scores and initial severity of motor deficit was shown in both groups (p