NCT03622879

Mirror Therapy with Cutaneous Electrical Sensory Stimulation on Lower Limb Motor Functions in Stroke

Effect of Mirror Therapy with Cutaneous Electrical Sensory Stimulation on Lower Limb Motor Functions in People with Stroke: a Single-blinded Randomized Controlled Trial

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 100 (estimated)
• Sponsor: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 55 Years – 85 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of concurrent mirror therapy (MT) and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) in augmenting the efficacy of the lower limb task-oriented training in people with stroke. It is hypothesize that MT combined with TENS would be superior to sham-mirror therapy with TENS, or MT with placebo-TENS, or control training only in improving lower limb motor functions and walking ability in people with stroke when combined with the lower limb task-oriented training.

Detailed description

The application of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) over a paretic lower limb could augment the effects of task-oriented exercise therapy on lower limb motor function in people with stroke, possibly through increased excitability of sensorimotor cortex. In mirror therapy (MT), the intact limb performs motor tasks while its mirror reflection is superimposed over the covered paretic limb, creating a visual illusion of enhanced function over the paretic limb. The visual input during MT could substitute for reduced proprioceptive inputs and increase spatial attention of the paretic limb, which could improve motor function of the paretic limb, possibly through increased cortical activity in the lesioned hemisphere and mirror neurone system. The next question concerns whether MT could be combined with TENS and whether their synergetic effects could maximise the motor output of paretic limbs in people with stroke.

Conditions

• Stroke

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	MT	A customised angle-adjustable frame with a mirror board (60 × 90 cm) will be used. All subjects are instructed to perform hip flexion/abduction, knee flexion/extension and ankle dorsiflexion/plantarflexion on the intact-limb during a 15 minutes period.
DEVICE	TENS	TENS will be delivered to the common peroneal nerve of the paretic leg. The stimulation frequency will be 100Hz and with an intensity just below the motor threshold.
BEHAVIORAL	Lower-limb task-oriented training	The lower-limb task-oriented training comprises 6 exercises, namely stepping up and down, heel lift a dorsiflexed position, partial squatting, kicking a ball with alternate legs, gait re-education and transition training. Each exercise last for 10 minutes

Timeline

• Start date: 2018-07-02
• Primary completion: 2025-06-01
• Completion: 2025-06-01
• First posted: 2018-08-09
• Last updated: 2024-10-03

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Hong Kong