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Evaluation of a Wearable Exoskeleton for Functional Arm Training

Evaluation of a Wearable Exoskeleton for Functional Arm Training (CAREX)

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT02726204
Enrollment
28
Registered
2016-04-01
Start date
2015-06-01
Completion date
2016-05-05
Last updated
2018-12-24

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Post-Stroke Hemiparesis, Stroke

Brief summary

The purpose of this study is to investigate how the cable-driven arm exoskeleton (CAREX) can assist task performance during 3D arm movement tasks under various experimental conditions in healthy individuals and patients with stroke. This study is designed to test motor learning with the robotic rehabilitative device CAREX under three conditions in healthy subjects and subjects with post-stroke hemiparesis.

Interventions

OTHERGravity Elimination Alone

CAREX will compensate for the gravity of the subject's arm, i.e. subject can move their arm to a specific position and relax all the arm muscles, CAREX will hold the arm in that configuration

OTHERPath Assistance Alone

CAREX will push subject's arm to a pre-specified path. If the arm is not in the path, CAREX will generate some force that is proportional to the distance between the hand and the path. The subject will feel like having a spring connected between his hand and the path

OTHERPath Assistance and Gravity Elimination

Sponsors

NYU Langone Health
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
DOUBLE (Subject, Investigator)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 80 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

for stroke population: * Radiologically verified unilateral stroke at least 4 months previously. * Right-handed subjects with or without right hemiparesis (as robot is built for right arm alone). * Preserved passive range of motion at all upper limb joints. * Spasticity \<3 on the modified Ashworth Scale (MAS). * Ability to follow study instructions and likely to complete the protocol; ability to comply with the protocol as assessed by the investigator; must be English speaking since the assessments are in English.

Exclusion criteria

for stroke population. * History of surgery or other significant injury to either upper extremity causing mechanical limitations that preclude task performance. * Previous neurological illness such as head trauma, prior stroke ( as we are recruiting subjects with first unilateral stroke), epilepsy, or demyelinating disease. * Complicating medical problems such as uncontrolled hypertension, diabetes with signs of polyneuropathy, severe renal, cardiac or pulmonary disease, or evidence of other concurrent neurologic or orthopedic conditions precluding the subject from complying with the study protocol. * Severe upper extremity spasticity suggested by an Ashworth score of \>3 at any joint, or restriction of full passive range of motion. * Evidence of alcohol, drug abuse or other relevant neuropsychiatric condition such as psychotic illness or severe depression. Inclusion Criteria for control population. * No previous stroke or any other previous neurological injury. * Right-handed subjects without any weakness or hemiparesis (as robot is built for right arm alone). * Preserved passive and active range of motion at all upper limb joints. * No increase in muscle tone in response to passive range of motion. A score of zero on Ashworth Scale (MAS). * Able to achieve full score on upper extremity Fugl-Meyer Scale (66/66) * Ability to follow study instructions and likely to complete the protocol; ability to comply with the protocol as assessed by the investigator; must be English speaking since the assessments are in English.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frame
Passive range of motion measured by goniometry1 Day
Active range of motion measured by goniometry1 Day
Upper extremity motor impairment measured by performance on the 33 tasks of the Fugl-Meyer Scale (FMS)1 Day
Spasticity measured by the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS)1 Day

Countries

United States

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026