Researchers build a glove to treat symptoms of stroke
ATLANTA, Georgia: Strokes often have a devastating impact on something most of us rely heavily on in our daily lives – our hands. Now, Stanford researchers are collaborating on a vibrating glove that could improve hand function after a stroke.
The most obvious sign someone has survived a stroke is usually some trouble speaking or walking. But another challenge may have an even greater impact on someone’s daily life: Often, stroke survivors lose sensation and muscle control in one arm and hand, making it difficult to dress and feed themselves or handle everyday objects such as a toothbrush or door handle.
Now, doctors and engineers at Stanford and Georgia Tech are working on a novel therapy that could help more stroke survivors regain the ability to control their arms and hands – a vibrating glove that gently stimulates the wearer’s hand for several hours a day.
Caitlyn Seim, a graduate student at Georgia Tech, started the project in the hope that the glove’s stimulation could have some of the same impact as more traditional exercise programmes. After developing a prototype, she approached Stanford colleagues Maarten Lansberg, an associate professor of neurology, and Allison Okamura, a professor of mechanical engineering, in order to expand her efforts. With help from a Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute Neuroscience: Translate grant, the trio are working to
“The glove is an innovative idea that has shown some promise in pilot studies. If proven beneficial for patients with impaired arm function, it is conceivable that variations of this type of therapy could be developed to treat, for example, patients with impaired gait. — Maarten Lansberg, associate professor of neurology
improve on their prototype glove and bring the device closer to clinical testing.
“The concept behind it is that users wear the glove for a few hours each day during normal daily life – going to the supermarket or reading a book at home,” said Seim. “We are hoping that we can discover something that really helps stroke survivors.”
Seim, Lansberg and Okamura’s goal is a tall order. Despite some individual success stories, the reality is that most stroke patients struggle to regain the ability to speak, move around and take good care of themselves.
“Stroke can affect patients in many ways, including causing problems with arm function, gait, vision, speech and cognition,” Lansberg said, yet despite decades of research, “there are essentially no treatments that have been proven to help stroke patients recover these functions.”
Long term, the hope is to build something that helps stroke survivors recover some of the functions they have lost in their hands and arms.
“The glove is an innovative idea that has shown some promise in pilot studies,” Lansberg said. “If proven beneficial for patients with impaired arm function, it is conceivable that variations of this type of therapy could be developed to treat, for example, patients with impaired gait.”