NCT05878132

'Smart Reminder': a Feasibility Pilot Study on the Effects of a Wearable Device Treatment

'Smart Reminder': a Feasibility Pilot Study on the Effects of a Wearable Device Treatment on the Hemiplegic Upper Limb in Persons With Stroke

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 12 (actual)
• Sponsor: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

This pilot study examines the feasibility and potential effects on upper limb (UL) motor function using a wearable device integrated with a telerehabilitation function in the home setting with chronic stroke survivors. The study seeks to address the question: \- Is wearable device intervention more effective in promoting arm recovery in stroke survivors than conventional therapy for home-based training? We hypothesize that using a multimodal feedback system in the wearable device can provide more effective training to improve the hemiplegic UL function of chronic stroke survivors than conventional therapy. This is a single-blinded randomized crossover pilot trial. Twelve participants will be randomly assigned into two groups: the experimental (wristwatch) and the control (conventional therapy) groups. Participants in the experimental group will undergo a 4-week wearable device treatment followed by a 4-week conventional training. Participants in the control group will complete conventional therapy and then wearable device treatment. There will be a 3-week washout period between treatments. Upper limb motor outcome measures will be evaluated at the following intervals: baseline, post-treatment at 4-week, after a 3-week washout period for pre-intervention, and post-intervention after crossover by research assistants blinded to group allocation.

Conditions

• Stroke

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DEVICE	Wearable device -'Smart Reminder'	The wearable device, a wristwatch, has a Bluetooth function to link to mobile devices for the participants to view the prescribed videos and engage in telerehabilitation. It has sensors to monitor arm movements and provides multiple feedbacks (auditory, visual and tactile). Participants were instructed to practice the prescribed exercises -tailored according to the severity of UL paresis for the recommended therapy dose. The device recorded the angles of arm movement and the number of repetitions completed and data collected is uploaded to an encrypted cloud server for remote monitoring. Weekly, the participants will receive a 30-minute consultation session to review their progress and modify prescribed exercises based on the wearable device data.
OTHER	Conventional therapy	The participants in the control group received similar in-home upper limb exercises as the wearable device group, with the prescribed exercises presented in the form of a pictorial handout rather than an in-app video. They were instructed to perform the exercises for the recommended therapy dose and received a weekly therapy consultation as well. To monitor the participant's exercise compliance, they were instructed to record their daily exercise progress in the exercise log.

Timeline

• Start date: 2022-08-24
• Primary completion: 2022-12-30
• Completion: 2022-12-30
• First posted: 2023-05-26
• Last updated: 2023-05-26

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Hong Kong