Effect of Robot-Assisted Therapy on Participation of People with Limited Upper Limb Functioning: A Systematic Review with GRADE Recommendations

Innovative Technologies in the Neurorehabilitation of Traumatic Brain Injury: A Systematic Review

Motor and cognitive rehabilitation in individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a growing field of clinical and research interest. In fact, novel rehabilitative approaches allow a very early verticalization and gait training through robotic devices and other innovative tools boosting neuroplasticity, thanks to the high-intensity, repetitive and task-oriented training. In the same way, cognitive rehabilitation is also evolving towards advanced interventions using virtual reality (VR), computer-based approaches, telerehabilitation and neuromodulation devices. This review aimed to systematically investigate the existing evidence concerning the role of innovative technologies in the motor and cognitive neurorehabilitation of TBI patients. We searched and reviewed the studies published in the Cochrane Library, PEDro, PubMed and Scopus between January 2012 and September 2022. After an accurate screening, only 29 papers were included in this review. This systematic review has demonstrated the beneficial role of innovative technologies when applied to cognitive rehabilitation in patients with TBI, while evidence of their effect on motor rehabilitation in this patient population is poor and still controversial.

The Effect of Early Applied Robot-Assisted Physiotherapy on Functional Independence Measure Score in Post-Myocardial Infarction Patients

Robot-assisted training has been widely used in rehabilitation programs, but no significant clinical evidence about its use in productive working-age cardiac patients was demonstrated. Thus, we hypothesized that early applied robot-assisted physiotherapy might provide additional treatment benefits in the rehabilitation of post-myocardial infarction (MI) patients. A total of 92 (50 men, 42 women) hospitalized post-MI patients with the age of 60.9 ± 2.32 participated in the research. An early intensive physiotherapy program (7×/week, 2×/day) was applied for each patient with an average time of 45 min per session. Patients were consecutively assigned to Experimental group (EG) and Control group (CG). Then, 20 min of robot-assisted training by Motomed letto 2 or Thera-Trainer tigo was included in all EG physiotherapy sessions. The Functional Independence Measures (FIM) score at the admission and after 14 days of rehabilitation was used for an assessment. When analyzing time * group effect by repeated-measures ANOVA, we reported that EG showed a higher effect in ADL (p = 0.00), and Motor indicators (p = 0.00). There was no statistically significant effect reported in the Social indicator (p = 0.35). Early rehabilitation programs for post-MI patients might be enhanced by robotic tools, such as THERA-Trainer tigo, and Motomed letto 2. The improvement was particularly noticeable in mobility and ADLs.