Soft robotics and functional electrical stimulation advances for restoring hand function in people with SCI: a narrative review, clinical guidelines and future directions
Abstract Background Recovery of hand function is crucial for the independence of people with spinal cord injury (SCI). Wearable devices based on soft robotics (SR) or functional electrical stimulation (FES) have been employed to assist the recovery of hand function both during activities of daily li...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
BMC
2022-06-01
|
| Series: | Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12984-022-01043-1 |
| _version_ | 1818117098198532096 |
|---|---|
| author | Lucas R. L. Cardoso Vanesa Bochkezanian Arturo Forner-Cordero Alejandro Melendez-Calderon Antonio P. L. Bo |
| author_facet | Lucas R. L. Cardoso Vanesa Bochkezanian Arturo Forner-Cordero Alejandro Melendez-Calderon Antonio P. L. Bo |
| author_sort | Lucas R. L. Cardoso |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Recovery of hand function is crucial for the independence of people with spinal cord injury (SCI). Wearable devices based on soft robotics (SR) or functional electrical stimulation (FES) have been employed to assist the recovery of hand function both during activities of daily living (ADLs) and during therapy. However, the implementation of these wearable devices has not been compiled in a review focusing on the functional outcomes they can activate/elicit/stimulate/potentiate. This narrative review aims at providing a guide both for engineers to help in the development of new technologies and for clinicians to serve as clinical guidelines based on the available technology in order to assist and/or recover hand function in people with SCI. Methods A literature search was performed in Scopus, Pubmed and IEEE Xplore for articles involving SR devices or FES systems designed for hand therapy or assistance, published since 2010. Only studies that reported functional outcomes from individuals with SCI were selected. The final collections of both groups (SR and FES) were analysed based on the technical aspects and reported functional outcomes. Results A total of 37 out of 1101 articles were selected, 12 regarding SR and 25 involving FES devices. Most studies were limited to research prototypes, designed either for assistance or therapy. From an engineering perspective, technological improvements for home-based use such as portability, donning/doffing and the time spent with calibration were identified. From the clinician point of view, the most suitable technical features (e.g., user intent detection) and assessment tools should be determined according to the particular patient condition. A wide range of functional assessment tests were adopted, moreover, most studies used non-standardized tests. Conclusion SR and FES wearable devices are promising technologies to support hand function recovery in subjects with SCI. Technical improvements in aspects such as the user intent detection, portability or calibration as well as consistent assessment of functional outcomes were the main identified limitations. These limitations seem to be be preventing the translation into clinical practice of these technological devices created in the laboratory. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T04:33:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-17e2a8b743394f5a839da38c6cbc69a6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1743-0003 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T04:33:00Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation |
| spelling | doaj.art-17e2a8b743394f5a839da38c6cbc69a62022-12-22T01:20:49ZengBMCJournal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation1743-00032022-06-0119112410.1186/s12984-022-01043-1Soft robotics and functional electrical stimulation advances for restoring hand function in people with SCI: a narrative review, clinical guidelines and future directionsLucas R. L. Cardoso0Vanesa Bochkezanian1Arturo Forner-Cordero2Alejandro Melendez-Calderon3Antonio P. L. Bo4Biomedical Engineering, School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, The University of QueenslandCollege of Health Sciences, School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences, Central Queensland UniversityBiomechatronics Laboratory, Escola Politecnica, University of São PauloBiomedical Engineering, School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, The University of QueenslandBiomedical Engineering, School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, The University of QueenslandAbstract Background Recovery of hand function is crucial for the independence of people with spinal cord injury (SCI). Wearable devices based on soft robotics (SR) or functional electrical stimulation (FES) have been employed to assist the recovery of hand function both during activities of daily living (ADLs) and during therapy. However, the implementation of these wearable devices has not been compiled in a review focusing on the functional outcomes they can activate/elicit/stimulate/potentiate. This narrative review aims at providing a guide both for engineers to help in the development of new technologies and for clinicians to serve as clinical guidelines based on the available technology in order to assist and/or recover hand function in people with SCI. Methods A literature search was performed in Scopus, Pubmed and IEEE Xplore for articles involving SR devices or FES systems designed for hand therapy or assistance, published since 2010. Only studies that reported functional outcomes from individuals with SCI were selected. The final collections of both groups (SR and FES) were analysed based on the technical aspects and reported functional outcomes. Results A total of 37 out of 1101 articles were selected, 12 regarding SR and 25 involving FES devices. Most studies were limited to research prototypes, designed either for assistance or therapy. From an engineering perspective, technological improvements for home-based use such as portability, donning/doffing and the time spent with calibration were identified. From the clinician point of view, the most suitable technical features (e.g., user intent detection) and assessment tools should be determined according to the particular patient condition. A wide range of functional assessment tests were adopted, moreover, most studies used non-standardized tests. Conclusion SR and FES wearable devices are promising technologies to support hand function recovery in subjects with SCI. Technical improvements in aspects such as the user intent detection, portability or calibration as well as consistent assessment of functional outcomes were the main identified limitations. These limitations seem to be be preventing the translation into clinical practice of these technological devices created in the laboratory.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12984-022-01043-1Functional electrical stimulationSoft roboticsHandsFingersSpinal cord injuryTetraplegia |
| spellingShingle | Lucas R. L. Cardoso Vanesa Bochkezanian Arturo Forner-Cordero Alejandro Melendez-Calderon Antonio P. L. Bo Soft robotics and functional electrical stimulation advances for restoring hand function in people with SCI: a narrative review, clinical guidelines and future directions Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation Functional electrical stimulation Soft robotics Hands Fingers Spinal cord injury Tetraplegia |
| title | Soft robotics and functional electrical stimulation advances for restoring hand function in people with SCI: a narrative review, clinical guidelines and future directions |
| title_full | Soft robotics and functional electrical stimulation advances for restoring hand function in people with SCI: a narrative review, clinical guidelines and future directions |
| title_fullStr | Soft robotics and functional electrical stimulation advances for restoring hand function in people with SCI: a narrative review, clinical guidelines and future directions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Soft robotics and functional electrical stimulation advances for restoring hand function in people with SCI: a narrative review, clinical guidelines and future directions |
| title_short | Soft robotics and functional electrical stimulation advances for restoring hand function in people with SCI: a narrative review, clinical guidelines and future directions |
| title_sort | soft robotics and functional electrical stimulation advances for restoring hand function in people with sci a narrative review clinical guidelines and future directions |
| topic | Functional electrical stimulation Soft robotics Hands Fingers Spinal cord injury Tetraplegia |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12984-022-01043-1 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT lucasrlcardoso softroboticsandfunctionalelectricalstimulationadvancesforrestoringhandfunctioninpeoplewithscianarrativereviewclinicalguidelinesandfuturedirections AT vanesabochkezanian softroboticsandfunctionalelectricalstimulationadvancesforrestoringhandfunctioninpeoplewithscianarrativereviewclinicalguidelinesandfuturedirections AT arturofornercordero softroboticsandfunctionalelectricalstimulationadvancesforrestoringhandfunctioninpeoplewithscianarrativereviewclinicalguidelinesandfuturedirections AT alejandromelendezcalderon softroboticsandfunctionalelectricalstimulationadvancesforrestoringhandfunctioninpeoplewithscianarrativereviewclinicalguidelinesandfuturedirections AT antonioplbo softroboticsandfunctionalelectricalstimulationadvancesforrestoringhandfunctioninpeoplewithscianarrativereviewclinicalguidelinesandfuturedirections |