There is No test–retest reliability of brain activation induced by robotic passive hand movement: A functional NIRS study

• Published in: Brain and behavior 2020-10, Vol.10 (10), p.e01788-n/a
• Main Authors: Bae, Sungjin, Lee, Yonghee, Chang, Pyung‐Hun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: activation map; Brain; brain activation; Brain research; fNIRS; Hand; Humans; Hypotheses; intraclass correlation coefficient; Investigations; Medical imaging; Movement; Original Research; Reproducibility of Results; robotic passive movement; Robotic Surgical Procedures; Robotics; Robots; test–retest reliability
• ISSN: 2162-3279; 2162-3279
• DOI: 10.1002/brb3.1788

Introduction The basic paradigm of rehabilitation is based on the brain plasticity, and for promoting it, test–retest reliability (TRR) of brain activation in which certain area of the brain is repeatedly activated is required. In this study, we investigated whether the robotic passive movement has the TRR of brain activation. While active training has been shown to have TRR, but there still have been arguments over the TRR by passive movement. Methods In order to test TRR, 10 repetitive sessions and various intervals (1 day, 3 days, 7 days, 23 days, 15 min, and 6 hr) were applied to five subjects, which had the same statistical power as applying two sessions to 50 subjects. In each session, three robot speeds (0.25, 0.5, and 0.75 Hz) were applied to provide passive movement using the robot. The fNIRS signal (oxy‐Hb) generated in the primary sensorimotor area (SM1) was measured on a total of 29 channels. At this time, we used activation maps and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) values to examine the TRR and the effect of robot speeds and intervals on TRR. Results As a result, activation maps showed prominent variation regardless of robot speeds and interval, and the ICC value (=0.002) showed no TRR of brain activation for robotic passive movement. Conclusion The brain activation induced by the robotic passive movement alone has very poor TRR, suggesting that further enhancement is required to strengthen the TRR by complementing active user engagements. We investigated the test–retest reliability of activation induced by robotic passive movement. In order to test TRR, 10 repetitive sessions and various intervals (1 day, 3 days, 7 days, 23 days, 15 min, and 6 hr) were applied to five subjects. As a result, our findings show that there is no TRR in robotic passive movement with ICC of 0.002 and session across variability in activation map.