Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center

        Chronic deficits are especially prevalent in the distal upper extremities post-stroke. Distal limb impairment is especially problematic, because proper hand function is crucial to manual exploration and manipulation of the environment. In addition, loss of hand function is a major source of disability in stroke, preventing effective self-care by the stroke survivor and limiting return to work. The goal of this research is to develop rehabilitative devices to therapeutically facilitate finger extension in individuals with chronic hemiplegia subsequent to stroke. Two devices, one body-powered and one externally powered, will be produced and their efficacy tested. The devices will supplement finger extension when necessary so that the desired hand motion can be achieved. Subjects that take part in this study are asked to commit to 6 weeks of training sessions, during which they use a glove for one hour intervals, three times each week.

 

The "X-Glove:" 

                          

And the Pneumatically Powered Glove...

           

                ...is used in conjunction with a virtual reality environment modeled after the Alice in Wonderland story:

In collaboration with Daria Tsoupikova of the Art and Design Department at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Randy Vick at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, we are developing a virtual reality environment for the rehabilitation of stroke survivors with impaired arm and hand function. We will immerse our customers in a magical world inspired by the story of Alice in Wonderland. In this world, they will have some strange encounters. They will try to catch cookies that run and sugar cubes that jump. Looking at classical brain plasticity studies we believe that life in Wonderland should aid in the recovery from stroke through the skilled movements people are constantly required to execute.