Effect of Simultaneous Application of HD-tDCS and Robot-assisted Gait Training on Gait Function in Stroke Patients

Measurement of the time it takes a subject to walk 10m with self selected gait speed. To perform the test, patient walks 10 meters (33 ft) and the time is measured when the leading foot crosses the start line and the finish line. The instructions are: "Please walk this distance at your normal pace when I say go."

Measurement of balance function. A five-point ordinal scale, ranging from 0-4. "0" indicates the lowest level of function and "4" the highest level of function. Score the lowest performance. Total Score = 56.

11-20 seconds are within normal limits for frail elderly and disabled patients, and greater than 20 seconds means the person needs assistance outside and indicates further examination and intervention. A score of 30 seconds or more suggests that the person may be prone to falls.

Measure of Neuroplasticity

Measure of depression. The grid sets a range of 0-9 as "normal", 10-19 as "mildly depressed", and 20-30 as "severely depressed".

Resting motor threshold (rMT) and amplitude of motor evoked potential in first dorsal interosseous muscle are measured. These outcomes are measured by transcranial magnetic stimulation over the motor hotspot. The rMT is defined as the minimum stimulus intensity that produced a minimal motor evoked response at rest. The amplitude means peak to peak of the muscle response.

The score is a stroke-specific, performance-based impairment index. The degree of impairment of upper and lower limbs is measured.

The Functional Ambulation Categories (FAC) is a functional walking test that evaluates ambulation ability. This 6-point scale assesses ambulation status by determining how much human support the patient requires when walking, regardless of whether or not they use a personal assistive device. The higher the score, the better the walking ability.

The MBI is a measure of activities of daily living, which shows the degree of independence of a patient from any assistance. It covers 10 domains of functioning (activities): bowel control, bladder control, as well as help with grooming, toilet use, feeding, transfers, walking, dressing, climbing stairs, and bathing.

Manual muscle testing (MMT) is a procedure for the evaluation of the function and strength of individual muscles and muscle groups based on the effective performance of a movement in relation to the forces of gravity and manual resistance.

Range of Motion (ROM) testing is the measurement of movement around a specific joint or body part.

measures spasticity with scale from 0 to 3. 0 is no increase in muscle tone. 3 is considerable increase in muscle tone, passive movement difficult.