A computer-based finger-tapping system for evaluating movement of the affected hand following stroke: A pilot study

The objective of this study was to develop a computer-based finger-tapping system and to investigate whether the system is effective for evaluating motor function by performing pilot tests of the effects of three interventions, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), peripheral sensory stimulation (PSS), and PSS combined with tDCS (PSS + tDCS), on the movement of the affected hand in stroke patients. The developed system consists of two parts, the finger-tapping input system and finger-tapping analysis software. The finger-tapping input system can detect the states of four buttons and transmit these states to the finger-tapping analysis software, which measures the reaction time. Three stroke patients participated in an experimental session to test the effects of each intervention on motor performance. Each session included three blocks for the determination of (1) baseline of motor performance (Base), (2) the motor performance after each form of stimulation (Pre), and (3) the motor performance following motor training and rest (Post). The results showed that the mean response times for all blocks (Base, Pre, and Post) did not differ significantly with tDCS and PSS, but significant decreases were found between Base and Post and between Pre and Post. In addition, there was no significant difference among the interventions at Pre; however, PSS + tDCS facilitated considerably greater training effects than tDCS or PSS at Post. The developed system was able to evaluate motor function through motor training after a combination of PSS and tDCS. In the near future, we plan to apply the developed system to more patients with relatively good motor function to extend our findings to a general outcome, and expect that these results could be used to design an appropriate rehabilitative approach.