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.