Treatment of Chronic Stroke With AMES + EMG Biofeedback

Over the last 20 years, the discovery of cortical plasticity in the adult human brain has
led to the development of new therapies to rehabilitate stroke survivors whose recovery of
motor function has stalled with conventional therapeutic methodology. However, the efficacy
of these new therapies appears to be limited to relatively high-functioning chronic stroke
patients. A therapeutic approach that may be efficacious in restoring functional movement to
low-functioning chronic stroke patients is "AMES," which stands for Assisted Movement with
Enhanced Sensation. Despite the efficacy of AMES in restoring movement to low-functioning
hemiparetic stroke patients, those with plegia at a joint tend not to recover movement in
the plegic direction with AMES treatment or with other rehabilitation therapies. The
objective of this study is to determine if AMES treatment in combination with biofeedback
can be helpful in restoring functional movement to plegic stroke patients.