Purpose: Stroke is a leading cause of disability with many survivors having upper limb (UL) hemiparesis. UL rehabilitation using bilateral exercise enhances outcomes and the Bilateral Upper Limb Trainer (BUiLT) was developed to provide symmetrical, bilateral arm exercise in a 'forced' and self-assistive manner, incorporating virtual reality (VR) to provide direction and task specificity to users as well as action observation-execution and greater motivation to exercise.
Methods: The BUiLT + VR system was trialled on five post-stroke participants with UL hemiparesis: one sub-acute and four chronic. The intervention was supplied for 45 min, 4 days/week for 6 weeks. The Fugl-Meyer Upper Extremity score (FMA-UE) was used as the primary outcome measure. Secondary outcome measures used were UL isometric strength and the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) questionnaire.
Results: The BUiLT + VR therapy increased FMA-UE scores from 1 to 5 and overall strength in the shoulder and elbow. Motivation at the end of intervention was positive.
Conclusions: Therapy using the BUiLT + VR system is reliable, can be administered safely and has a positive trend of benefit as measured by the FMA-UE, isometric strength testing and IMI questionnaire.