Study of Hemiplegic Dorsiflexion Functional Recovery Training Device with Facilitating Stimuli

The majority of hemiplegic patients find it difficult or are unable to perform dorsiflexion of the ankle after a stroke, moreover spasticity is more likely to occur in the dorsiflexor muscle of the foot, also inhibiting dorsiflexion. Therefore, we have developed a rehabilitation system for voluntary movement training, which can effectively re-train the dorsiflexion function in a hemiplegic ankle joint. This device induces stretch reflex of the dorsiflexor muscle in the hemiplegic foot by giving a facilitating stimulus, such as rapid passive stretching, assistive vibration/electrical stimulation to the target muscle, and visual/auditory stimulus to perform the dorsiflexion motion. Lastly, verification of the experimental results suggest that facilitated stimulus using the proposed device induces a stretch reflex of the dorsiflexor muscle and assist active dorsiflexion.