Pseudoelastic alloy devices for spastic elbow relaxation

Pseudoelastic alloys have never been utilised in rehabilitation medicine yet. A compliant dynamic brace (EDGES) promoting spastic elbow relaxation was designed for clinical use and helped investigate the potentialities of pseudolastic NiTi in orthotics. Two post-stroke subjects wore EDGES for 1 week, at least 10h a day. No additional treatment was applied to the examined arm during this period or the following week. A great improvement of the resting position was observed in both patients as early as 3h after starting the treatment. During walking, EDGES did not constrain limb movements and was thus very well accepted by the patients. A slight decrease in elbow flexors spasticity was also observed in all subjects, but this effect disappeared 1 week after discontinuation, as did posture improvements. EDGES appears to be a good alternative to traditional orthoses in terms of acceptability and effectiveness in improving posture, and it could be very useful whenever short-term splinting is planned.