Assistive Soft Robotic Glove (EsoGLOVE) Intervention for Stroke Patients

This proposed research aims to assess the efficacy and feasibility of the EsoGLOVE in the inpatient rehabilitation setting. 1. Understanding the ability of the EsoGLOVE in providing exercise and assisting stroke patients with completing hand functional tasks, eventually improves patients' motor function and neural recovery.2. To generate evidence on this innovative device and further deploy it in clinical practice. A Health Technology Assessment (HTA) will be generated from this study to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the intervention.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Stroke
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Graded Repetitive Arm Supplementary Program (GRASP); Device: EsoGLOVE

Detailed Description

This project proposes a study of 130 subjects in inpatient settings who have sustained their first-ever stroke prior to clinical trial enrolment. Participants are randomly assigned to 2 groups (EsoGLOVE group and GRASP group). The randomization method: A block randomization with a randomly varying block size. The study will last 12 weeks (3 weeks of intervention during hospitalization + 12th-week outpatient follow-up post-discharge). The subjects will use the study device about 15 times and be followed up for 3 weeks during hospitalization.

The subjects will need to visit the doctor's office 1 time (outpatient follow-up post-discharge) in the course of the study.During the hospitalization, the stroke patients (subjects) will receive intensive stroke rehabilitation as per normal, which will be daily physiotherapy and occupational therapy as a part of standard care as per stroke rehabilitation. On top of the standard care (daily Inpatient OT Rehabilitation), the EsoGLOVE subjects will receive EsoGLOVE training on therapy day for 3 weeks (week 1 to week 3, sessions will be done every Monday to Friday), a minimum of 30 minutes per day. While the GRASP group subjects will receive the Graded Repetitive Arm Supplementary Program (GRASP) on therapy day (Monday to Friday) for 3 weeks, a minimum of 30 minutes per day.In the case of early discharge or withdrawal for any reason before the 3-week intervention is completed, the subjects will no longer participate in this study and no study-related activities will be performed on the subjects. The subjects' right to receive standard care will remain the same as per hospital guidelines and will not be affected. This is applicable to both groups. With minimal compliance rate (10 sessions) for continuing the study, regardless of the subjects' discharge before 3 weeks, otherwise (less than or equal to 9 sessions) subjects will be withdrawn at the day of discharge or withdrawal. The 12th-week outpatient follow-up post-discharge at the clinic will coincide with the subject's standard care follow-up visit.The Health Technology Assessment (HTA) is conducted by the study team using explicit analytical frameworks, clinical outcomes, epidemiological data amp; statistics, health economic information, and study methodology. The assessment includes building evidence on the qualities and costs of health interventions (cost-effectiveness), identifying the direct amp; indirect medical costs in the current healthcare system, capturing the clinical outcomes of interventions, synthesizing health research findings of the effectiveness of different health interventions, evaluating the economic implications and analyzing the cost-effectiveness of the intervention.It is unlikely this study might unintentionally come to know of new information (Incidental Finding) about the health condition from the assessment (Fugl-Meyer Assessment - Upper Extremity) of the study.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 61
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Singapore
  • Singapore, Singapore
    • Alexandra Hospital
  • Singapore, Singapore
    • Jurong Community Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Aged 21-90 years regardless of lesion size, race
2. Stroke type: ischemic or haemorrhagic
3. Medically stable conditions
4. Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) of upper extremity impairment from 8-47 out of 66, or FMA of upper extremity impairment from 48-56 out of 66 if hand and wrist subscale is not full score and may still potentially benefit from study programme.
5. Able to give own consent, comprehend and follow commands
6. Able to sit upright and maintain sitting balance for at least 45 minutes
7. Able to stay alert and focus on the tasks at least 45 minutes and more.
8. Unilateral upper limb impairment

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Recurrent stroke
2. Unstable medical conditions (e.g. heart attack, unstable blood pressure, infection, and etc.) or anticipated life expectancy of <1 year.
3. Significant cognitive and communicative impairment (e.g. severe receptive aphasia, inattention, learning difficulty, and etc).
4. History of severe depression or active psychiatric disorder.
5. Severe spasticity (Modified Ashworth scale >3) of the affected distal muscles, joint contractures or deformity, poor skin conditions (e.g. irritated skin, open wounds), amputation of fingers, and allergic condition (e.g. patients with allergies to adhesive gel).
6. Poor trunk control or postural hypotension.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Graded Repetitive Arm Supplementary Program (GRASP) Group; The GRASP group subjects will receive the Graded Repetitive Arm Supplementary Program (GRASP) on therapy day (Monday to Friday) for 3 weeks, a minimum of 30 minutes per day	Other: Graded Repetitive Arm Supplementary Program (GRASP); Graded Repetitive Arm Supplementary Program (GRASP) on therapy day (Monday to Friday) for 3 weeks, a minimum of 30 minutes per day.
Experimental: EsoGLOVE; The EsoGLOVEGroup subjects will receive EsoGLOVE training on therapy day for 3 weeks (week 1 to week 3, sessions will be done every Monday to Friday), a minimum of 30 minutes per day	Device: EsoGLOVE; The dose is referred to the stay of inpatient setting. The stroke patients will be transferred to community hospital when medically stable. The average of stay in community hospital is 3 weeks. The stroke patients will receive intensive stroke rehabilitation during the stay, which will be daily physiotherapy and occupational therapy. The subjects will receive EsoGLOVE training on therapy day (Monday to Friday) for 3 weeks, a minimum of 30 minutes per day, up to 15 sessions. This is similar to the dose in a similar trial (DSRB 2017/00312, Robotic Sock Technology for Prevention of Deep Vein Thrombosis and Joint Contracture).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Fugl Meyer Assessment - Upper Extremity (FMA-UE)	To achieve minimum of 5 in FMA-UE difference/change between treatments and pre & post intervention (3th - 0th week).	2 years

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Alexandra Hospital
• Collaborators: Jurong Community Hospital, Singapore; Roceso Technologies
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Pui Kit Tam, MBBS, Alexandra Hospital

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): July 11, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): August 31, 2025
• Study Completion (Actual): August 31, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 9, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 9, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): August 16, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): June 2, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 29, 2026
• Last Verified: May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Cerebrovascular Disorders; Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Vascular Diseases; Cardiovascular Diseases; Stroke
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2020/01105

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No