Stroke Rehabilitation Using Virtual Environments

• Published in: Physical medicine and rehabilitation clinics of North America Vol. 26; no. 4; pp. 747 - 757
• Main Authors: Fu, Michael J., PhD, Knutson, Jayme S., PhD, Chae, John, MD
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01-11-2015
• Subjects: Activities of Daily Living; Hemiparesis; Humans; Motor relearning; Neuroplasticity; Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation; Psychomotor Performance; Stroke; Stroke - physiopathology; Stroke Rehabilitation; Therapy, Computer-Assisted - methods; User-Computer Interface; Video Games; Virtual reality; Motor relearning; Hemiparesis; Neuroplasticity; Stroke; Virtual reality
• ISSN: 1047-9651; 1558-1381
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pmr.2015.06.001

This review covers the rationale, mechanisms, and availability of commercially available virtual environment-based interventions for stroke rehabilitation. It describes interventions for motor, speech, cognitive, and sensory dysfunction. Also discussed are the important features and mechanisms that allow virtual environments to facilitate motor relearning. A common challenge is the inability to translate success in small trials to efficacy in larger populations. The heterogeneity of stroke pathophysiology has been blamed, and experts advocate for the study of multimodal approaches. Therefore, this article also introduces a framework to help define new therapy combinations that may be necessary to address stroke heterogeneity.