International Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Open Access

Abstract

Effects of NESS on Stroke Patients at a Long-Term Care Health Facility

Youko Maeda, Hiroaki Harashima, Tomoko Yasumoto, Atsuko Ikeda, Satoshi Furumizo and Masahiro Abo

Many stroke patients suffer sequela, such as the loss of limb mobility. Recently, a range of rehabilitation approaches have been developed and reported against the functional impairment of the hemiplegic upper limb. One of these approaches is the NESS H200 Hand Rehabilitation System. NESS is a functional electrical stimulation device for patients with motor paralysis of the fingers. In this study, NESS was used by 47 patients with motor paralysis of the upper limbs in the maintenance phase at our facility (1 to 2 sessions daily; duration of each session: 20 minutes). All the study subjects underwent 11 sessions in total: the residents used NESS every day, while the outpatients used it once or twice a week. Before and after using NESS, the active flexion angle of the wrist dorsal, FMA, MAS, and ARAT were measured and compared. It is presumed that the use of NESS improved some of the upper limb motor functions and eliminated disuse syndrome in the paralyzed muscle.