Budrio

People who have had a stroke or brachial plexus injuries often face significant challenges using their upper limbs for daily activities. The brachial plexus controls sensation and movement in the entire upper limb, shoulder, and part of the chest. These injuries mainly affect young, healthy individuals due to trauma, causing varying levels of motor impairment depending on the injury's type and location. There is a need for devices that can help restore independence in everyday life for these patients. This trial evaluates a new hybrid, active, and portable orthosis designed to improve upper limb motor function in patients with brachial plexus injuries. The device includes two modules: a robotic exoskeleton that assists the shoulder and elbow and a functional electrical stimulation (FES) module that supports wrist and hand movements. The study involves three assistive exoskeleton applications aimed at supporting daily living activities, box and block test execution, and reaching tasks. Participants will attend six sessions, including enrollment, device tuning, familiarization, and task execution with and without the device. Tasks include the box and block test, vertical reaching, and daily living activities like eating and drinking. Researchers will measure adverse events, changes in task performance, muscle activation, and usability. Each session lasts up to 90 minutes, and an additional session is available if further testing is needed.

Researchers are studying upper limb amputees to improve the control and sensory feedback of robotic hand prostheses. The study focuses on developing new techniques for decoding muscle signals using high-density surface electromyography (HD-sEMG) and restoring sensory information such as touch, pain, and temperature using transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS). These advancements aim to enhance both motor function and sensory perception to help amputees better use their prosthetic hands. Participants will undergo electromyography recordings with HD-sEMG sensors to measure muscle electrical activity. This data will be used to train and test classifiers that recognize hand gestures. Additionally, TENS will be applied via non-invasive electrodes on the skin of the stump to restore multiple types of sensory feedback. These approaches are evaluated and compared to current standards to develop innovative prosthetic control and sensory restoration strategies. During the study, researchers will monitor participants for improvements in gesture decoding and the elicitation of somatic sensations over an average period of two years. Participants will be assessed through muscle signal measurements and sensory feedback responses to the TENS application. Safety and clinical stability will also be tracked to ensure participant well-being throughout the study duration.