Promising preliminary case results from a clinical trial evaluating the effects of the MyoPro myoelectric arm orthosis (powered brace) from Myomo on traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients at the Cleveland VA Medical Center were presented recently at the American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists Annual Scientific Meeting.
“People with long-standing TBI have improved function when using a wearable myoelectric upper limb orthosis. Among three study subjects, [they] reported a reduction of spasticity and motor impairment as measured by the Modified Ashworth Scale and Fugl-Meyer Assessment, respectively; and one subject’s improvement in functional activity, as assessed by the Chedoke Arm and Hand Activity Inventory,” according to a NUPOC bulletin from March 2018, notes a media release from Myomo.
The US Department of Defense-funded study, conducted by researchers from the Northwestern University Prosthetics-Orthotics Center (NUPOC) and the Cleveland VA Medical Center, began in 2016 and includes veterans and non-veterans with TBI who have limited arm or hand functionality.
Participants in the study received 9 weeks of therapy and training with the MyoPro, followed by 9 weeks of home use, with intermittent functional evaluations.
“The preliminary results of this study are encouraging,” says Paul R. Gudonis, chairman and CEO of Cambridge, Mass-based Myomo Inc, in the release.
“They show similar functional improvements in TBI patients as with patients suffering arm and hand impairment from stroke, spinal cord injury, brachial plexus injury, and other neuromuscular conditions that we have seen in previous studies and in practice.”
[Source(s): Myomo Inc, Business Wire]
