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Virtual fine rehabilitation in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome using low-cost devices

Abstract:

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) happens when there is a compression of the median nerve between the forearm and the hand. This disorder causes an influence on basic and instrumental Activities of Daily Living. The motor disruptions are muscle weakness, tingling, and heaviness in the hand. The main disorder which subjects suffer with CTS is pain. To alleviate or mitigate pain in CTS, there are different techniques such as pharmacologic treatments, splints to immobilize the wrist, surgery, and physical therapy. Novel and customizable low-cost devices together with Virtual Environments are a good complement in rehabilitation sessions for this syndrome. The aim of this present study is to test a novel system, Virtual Rehabilitation Carpal Tunnel (VRCT), in patients with CTS. For this purpose, we have tested our system with four CTS patients (experimental group). At the same time, four CTS patients were tested using traditional rehabilitation. Phalen and Tinel test were used to analyze the results. The results obtained showed greater improvement in the experimental group during the intervention period. Future research will be focused on the analysis of the follow-up period.