Robotic Rehabilitation of Upper Limb in PD

Upper Limb Rehabilitation Using Armeo Spring in Patients With Parkinson's Disease.

It has been shown that robot-assisted therapy may be considered an effective and reliable method for the delivery of highly repetitive training useful to boost neuroplasticity. Thus, an early, intensive, repetitive and task oriented training could be an ideal strategy to facilitate relearning of motor function and to improve motor function. The ARMEO-S® is a specific upper limb electromedical device mainly used to reduce spasticity and improve muscle force. To date robotic upper limb training has been applied only in patiebts with brain injury and spinal cord lesions.

Aim of the study is to evaluate the efficacy of ARMEO-S in improving upper limb agility in a sample of PD patients, as compared to traditional physiotherapy.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Idiopathic PD diagnosed according to the UK BRAIN BANK criteria
• Hoehn-Yahr stage 2- 3
• MMSE score ≥ 23

Exclusion Criteria:

• Severe Dyskinesia

  • On-Off Motor fluctuations
  • History of stereotaxic brain surgery for PD;
  • Changes in dopamine therapy dose in any time within 3 months prior to baseline;
  • Any other medical that may compromise the patient's participation in this study such as history of ostheoarthritis or neuropathies.