2017 Volume 45 Issue 1 Pages 10-17
As a part of neurorehabilitation, repetitive motor training combined with noninvasive brain stimulation has been recently used to improve motor functions in patients who have suffered stroke. Here, we developed a repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) triggered by a voluntary movement detection system and evaluated the effects of this system on hemiplegic finger motor performance in patients with stroke. Nine patients with chronic stroke having hemiplegia underwent the two interventions in a cross-over design: repetitive hemiplegic finger extensions with 10 Hz rTMS at a stimulus intensity of 80% active motor threshold for 500 ms (Real) and repetitive hemiplegic finger extensions with sham rTMS (Control). We compared the maximal extension angle of the hemiplegic finger between Real and Control, and found that the maximal extension angle of metacarpophalangeal joint in Real was greater than that in Control. Therefore, we suggest that rTMS triggered by a voluntary movement detection system would be a new non-invasive neurorehabilitation device for stroke patients.
