Robotic hand and acupuncture bring new hope for stroke patients
Stroke patients with physical inabilities or depression have new hope on the horizon, in the form of a robotic hand and acupuncture.
Inability to move fingers and palms, and depression, are common among post-stroke patients. But two universities in Hong Kong hope that methods they have developed may make for more effective treatment and fewer side effects.
The robotic hand, developed by Polytechnic University, helps regain control in muscles. The device, which looks like an exoskeleton hand, detects electrical current emitted by muscles and moves patients' fingers and palm accordingly.
Dr Raymond Tong Kai-yu, who developed the device, said that after 20 sessions of one-hour therapy, in which patients were instructed to do tasks such as picking up small items, they could move their fingers voluntarily without the device.
Tong said the device, which helped him win a prize in Germany, would only move when a patient tried to move his muscles and would not result in reliance.
The University of Hong Kong found that acupuncture could be a more effective way than the antidepressants now used to treat patients with problems caused by various post-stroke symptoms.
Drugs currently in use, such as selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors, which are widely prescribed, can inflict broad side effects on a patient's cardiovascular system, and interact with other drugs.
Dr Zhang Zhangjin, associate professor of the school of Chinese medicine at HKU, said acupuncture could moderate post-stroke symptoms by restoring normal blood-transportation functions of the body, and that recent clinical studies showed that acupuncture was a more effective way to treat depression than to use the drug alone.
But Zhang said the treatment would only be applied on top of drug treatment because of 'lack of communication between Chinese medicine practitioners and clinical doctors in the current health system'.
Both the robotic hand and acupuncture treatment are now undergoing clinical trials.
The hand is being tested in Shatin Hospital, and Kowloon Hospital, Kowloon City, has bought one. Tong said it could be in use by February or March. He is also seeking a patent for the device in the United States.
The acupuncture treatment has gone through clinical studies overseas. Tung Wah Hospital, Sheung Wan, and Tung Wah Eastern Hospital, Causeway Bay, will collaborate with the school to conduct more clinical studies prior to further application of the technique.
Winnie Lam Siu-lin, 67, who suffered from a stroke on the left side of her body six years ago, was one of the first patients who underwent the robotic hand treatment. She has just finished the 20 sessions and said it was very helpful.
'I couldn't do anything right after the stroke, not even hold a glass of water,' she said. 'Now I can dry myself with a towel, and apply soap in showering, with both hands.'
