The RHOMBUS research project is a collaboration between Neurofenix (www.neurofenix.com), a health technology SME and Brunel University London. We are a team of academics, engineers, stroke survivors and healthcare clinicians who are resolute to the clinical application of scientific knowledge that is useful and beneficial.
Every 5 minutes someone in the UK has a stroke. Three quarters of people following a stroke will experience problems with moving their arms. This can be weakness, stiffness, or a combination of both. Lack of arm recovery after stroke can lead to an increased dependence on others for help and reduced quality of life for some. We know that treatments that work best to help with recovery of the arm require lots of practice and movements have to be repeated many times. This can make doing exercises challenging and boring.
Therefore the development of rehabilitation devices that can be used safely and easily at home, and are motivating, enjoyable and affordable is essential. Gameball is a device that can be used at home for rehabilitation of the arm and hand post-stroke that has designed by engineers, stroke survivors and specialist stroke physiotherapists. The portable device allows all-in-one arm training through uniquely designed rehabilitation computer games displayed on an iPad or laptop. Feedback and tracking and sharing of progress also feature.
The Gameball device has been successfully tested with 18 stroke survivors in a university setting and was found to be safe, enjoyable and easy to use. The RHOMBUS study will test if the Gameball can be used in the home setting for exercising the arm and hand after stroke.
Specifically, the aim of this study is to determine if the Gameball platform is safe, feasible and acceptable to use for home base rehabilitation of the upper-limb post stroke, and to test procedures to inform the design and delivery of a definitive randomised controlled trial (RCT) of using the Gameball (which will assess the clinical and cost effectiveness of the Gameball intervention with stroke survivors).