Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of auditory stimulus using white noise on stability and balance during sit-to-stand and standing tasks of chronic stroke patients. Methods Eighteen chronic stroke patients participated in this study. They asked to perform the tasks of sit-to-stand, standing with eyes open and standing with eyes closed before and after listening to white noise. Eight infrared cameras and one force plate were used to evaluate the stability and balance before and after the white noise stimulus during each task. Results There was no significant difference between before and after white noise stimulus in all tasks. On the other hand, the anteroposterior range of CoP was significantly decreased after white noise stimulus in standing with eyes-closed (p<.05), and the sagittal angle of CoP-CoM was significantly decreased after white noise stimulus in standing with eyes-open and eyes-closed (p<.05). Conclusion Auditory stimulus using white noise improves the balance of chronic stroke patients. Therefore it is thought to be helpful for the independent daily life of chronic stroke patients.
Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of coupled high frequency rTMS and prism illusion in elderly stroke patients, based on the result of previous studies which discovered the effect of bilateral training, mirror rehabilitation treatment, and rTMS. Methods This is a case study of 4 stroke patients who were homogeneous on the basis of selection criteria such as brain injury area, duration of onset, degree of upper limb movement function. A total of 24 rehabilitation sessions were conducted three times a week during the training period, and TMS(transcranial magnetic stimulator), EMG, motion analysis system, and prism optical glasses were used for apparatus. Results The results of the study were as follows: Combined rehabilitation exercises were found to be beneficial to restore upper limb function in stroke patients. Particularly, the maximum speed of stretching and JTT(Jebsen-taylor Test) performance showed improvement after training. The amount of total map volume and MEP(megnetic evoked potential) increased in evaluation of neurophysiology. Conclusion The upper limb dysfunction of stroke patients could be restored by combine rehabilitation exercises.