Haptic-Enabled Hand Rehabilitation in Stroke Patients: A Scoping Review

Abstract

There is a plethora of technology-assisted interventions for hand therapy, however, less is known about the effectiveness of these interventions. This scoping review aims to explore studies about technology-assisted interventions targeting hand rehabilitation to identify the most effective interventions. It is expected that multifaceted interventions targeting hand rehabilitation are more efficient therapeutic approaches than mono-interventions. The scoping review will aim to map the existing haptic-enabled interventions for upper limb rehabilitation and investigates their effects on motor and functional recovery in patients with stroke. The methodology used in this review is based on the Arksey and O’Malley framework, which includes the following stages: identifying the research question, identifying relevant studies, study selection, charting the data, and collating, summarizing, and reporting the results. Results show that using three or four different technologies was more positive than using two technologies (one technology + haptics). In particular, when standardized as a percentage of outcomes, the combination of three technologies showed better results than the combination of haptics with one technology or with three other technologies. To conclude, this study portrayed haptic-enabled rehabilitation approaches that could help therapists decide which technology-enabled hand therapy approach is best suited to their needs. Those seeking to undertake research and development anticipate further opportunities to develop haptic-enabled hand telerehabilitation platforms.