Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi Onlus

The goal of this study is determine if a high-tech rehabilitation circuit is more effective than usual rehabilitation methods in improving functional outcome, particularly balance control, for patients with acute neuromuscolar diseases. The main question it aims to answer is:
Are high-tech rehabilitation interventions, including robotic systems, virtual reality, and stabilometric platforms, more effective than traditional rehabilitation methods in improving balance, motor function, fatigue levels, sarcopenia, cognitive engagement, and overall quality of life in patients with acute neuromuscular diseases (NMDs)? Researchers will compare a robotic treatment group, that consists in an high-tech rehabilitation, with a control group, that will receive the traditional rehabilitative treatment.

The OPERA Clinical Study is an interventional, single-arm, open-label pilot clinical study that aims to evaluate the usability of an innovative bio-cooperative robotic platform (PRoBio) for cognitive rehabilitation in patients with Parkinson's Disease (PD) and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). The study focuses on assessing the effectiveness and acceptability of the system in a pilot study involving patients undergoing a structured cognitive rehabilitation program.
PRoBio is an advanced rehabilitation platform that integrates the TIAGo robotic system, developed by PAL Robotics, with the VRRS COMPACT virtual reality rehabilitation system, designed by Khymeia. TIAGo is provided by a robotic arm and RGB-D camera that allow the collection of biomechanical and psychophysiological data, which are then used to personalize the treatment through the cognitive tasks provided by the VRRS COMPACT. The pilot study involves patients with PD-MCI, who will undergo a four-week rehabilitation program with ProBio, consisting of three weekly sessions of virtual cognitive training. The primary objective is to assess the usability and compliance of the system by evaluating user experience, ease of interaction, and engagement levels among both patients and rehabilitation professionals, as well as evaluating its ability to monitor biomechanical and psychophysiological parameters during treatment. This assessment will be conducted using a multimodal sensor system, which includes an RGB-D camera integrated into the UCBM TIAGo robot and wearable sensors designed to measure heart rate, respiratory rate, and galvanic skin response. The data collected through these sensors will be analyzed offline to personalize cognitive rehabilitation treatments in subsequent sessions. Additionally, the study aims to evaluate the accuracy and response times of patients while performing cognitive exercises, as recorded by the VRRS system. Furthermore, the study will explore the potential effects of PRoBio treatment on the cognitive functions of patients with Parkinson's Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment (PD-MCI) as a possible future rehabilitation to include in the clinical practice.

This study will be conducted at a single research center, the main objective of the study will be to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and accuracy of a medical device that has not yet been commercialized; therefore, it is still under development or testing and is not yet available for private use and is not for profit (nonprofit).
Fifty participants will be recruited from subjects afferent to the outpatient and inpatient neuro-motor rehabilitation clinics of IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi in Florence, Italy, and afferent to the outpatient and inpatient rehabilitation clinics of Elias University Emergency Hospital in Bucharest, Romania.
In detail, it is deemed necessary to collect clinical and instrumental data. The study will be conducted by an interdisciplinary team composed of healthcare professionals and engineers afferent to the Department of Industrial Engineering.
Should you decide to participate in the study, a visit to verify the inclusion and exclusion criteria will be primarily conducted. Once the admission criteria have been verified, participants will undergo a series of assessments.
The first, involves the administration of some specific sections of the Fugl-Meyer scale (FMA), focusing on the upper extremities. Specifically, the following will be examined: section A for general upper limb function, section B assessing wrist mobility, and finally section D for limb coordination and speed.
During this phase, both upper limbs will be assessed, in addition, the first examiner will carefully place sensors on the participants and assign scores to the tests performed, according to the criteria established by the FMA scale.
Next, a second assessment (T1) will be conducted, in which a second examiner will be responsible for placing the sensors and recording data only on the most affected side.
At a third time, called "T2" and again with at least 15 minutes interval from T1, the first examiner will repeat the same assessments performed in "T1." While performing these assessments, a RealSense camera will be used.