Stroke recovery goes home: robot hand trainer could boost therapy without a therapist

NCT ID NCT07674238

Disease control Sponsor: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Source: ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

First seen Jun 29, 2026 · Last updated Sep 21, 2026 · Updated 2 times

Summary

This study tests whether stroke survivors can safely use a robot called ReHandyBot to exercise their hand at home without a therapist present. Participants first learn how to use the device at a clinic, then take it home to train on their own. The goal is to see if unsupervised home therapy can increase the amount of hand exercise patients get, which may improve recovery while reducing the need for constant therapist supervision.

What this could mean

Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.

Active substance: ReHandyBot hand rehabilitation device
What this could lead to: If it works, this could show that unsupervised home robot therapy helps stroke survivors recover hand function with less burden on therapists and the healthcare system.
What could go wrong: This is a small exploratory study (40 people) focused on feasibility and dose, not on proving recovery. The device may be difficult to use at home, and results may not apply to all stroke patients.

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Study facts

What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.

Phase

Not a phased trial

Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.

Participants

About 40 people

The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.

Expected to start

Nov 2026

An estimate. Start dates often move.

Expected to finish

Aug 2028

An estimate. End dates often move.

Lead sponsor

Other sponsor

The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.

Who can take part

This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.

Ages

18 to 90 years

Sex

Anyone

Healthy volunteers

Not accepted

This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.

Show the full entry requirements

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: * Informed Consent signed by the subject; * female and male patients between 18 and 90 years old; * acute/subacute stroke (recruitment within 12 weeks from stroke onset); * pre-stroke modified Rankin score ≤ 1; * National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) ≥ 1 in at least one of the items regarding motor functions, sensory functions and ataxia; * possibility (e.g., enough space) to set up the ReHandyBot at home. Exclusion Criteria: * modified Ashworth Scale \> 2 for one or more of the following muscles: shoulder adductors, forearm pronator and supinator, flexors and extensors of elbow, wrist and fingers; * moderate to severe aphasia: Goodglass-Kaplan's scale \< 3; * moderate to severe cognitive deficits: levels of cognitive functioning-revised (LCF-R) \< 9; * functional impairment of the upper limb due to other pathologies; * severe pain in the affected arm: visual analogue scale for pain (VASp) ≥ 5; * other pathologies which may interfere with the study; * after discharge the patient will go to an assisted living facility (e.g., care home).

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Conditions

The condition(s) this trial relates to.

stroke disorder

As listed by the trial registrant

The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.

Stroke

How to take part

Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.

The places running it

4 sites. The list below names each one and where it is.
The official record

ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.

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A doctor treating you

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Stroke recovery goes home: robot hand trainer could boost therapy without a therapist

What the study statuses mean