SHAPES (Sheffield Adaptive Patterned Electrical Stimulation)
Project team
Funder
Total value of project
£1,225,751
Collaborators
- Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (project lead)
- NIHR Devices for Dignity MedTech Cooperative
- University of Sheffield
- Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of project
39 months 01/11/2020 - 31/01/2024
Project overview
The SHAPES project has been funded for three years to design, manufacture and trial a self, or carer-managed intervention that could be deployed early after stroke to treat post-stroke elbow spasticity.
The damage caused by a stroke often makes arm muscles hard to control. They become weak, and then stay tight when they should relax. This over-tightness can become painful and disabling because muscles shorten and the arm cannot be moved freely. The project will further design, develop and test a new therapy device (ShefStim-SBS) to ensure that it is easier to wear and use at home.
The project will involve development of a robust user-friendly system and a blinded-design Randomised Control Trial (RCT). The CAMC team contribute expertise in design (product, interaction, and fashion) and human factors to the project. They will undertake qualitative research to determine user needs, advance the system through co-design and undertake user testing and evaluation.
Project objectives
The project aims to determine if a co-designed novel therapy (SHAPES) for relaxing tight arm muscles after stroke is better than two other treatments (TENS and usual care).
The objectives the CAMC team will contribute to are to:
- assess the usability of the current protoype
- co-design an improved prototype that allows one-handed use
- test the final prototype in terms of ease of use, wearability and acceptbility
Impact statement
The expected benefit of SHAPES is to provide a simple self or carer-managed intervention that could be deployed early after stroke to treat post-stroke elbow spasticity. It also has the potential to be used for other joints. It would allow more therapy time than is currently possible through physiotherapy alone and avoids the significant side-effects and cost of anti-spasticity medications.
