The Efficacy of Upper Limb Rehabilitation With Exoskeleton in Patients With Subacute Stroke.

Inclusion Criteria:

• age between 18 and 85 years;

• first stroke with neurological outcomes affecting the upper limb;

• patients with severe or moderate hemiparesis (FM-UL≤44), stratified according tosevere (FM-UL ≤ 22) or moderate (22 <FM-UL ≤ 44) motor deficit;

• patients in the sub-acute phase within 90 days of the acute event, stratified by thedistance from the acute event (OAI≤30; OAI> 30);

• Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) of the main components (shoulder, elbow, and wrist) ofthe upper limb <3;

• sufficient cognitive and linguistic level to understand the instructions and provideconsent;

• signed informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

• unstable general clinical conditions;

• severe visual impairment;

• inability to maintain the sitting position;

• mild motor deficit of the arm (FM-UL> 44) at baseline;

• recent botox injection in the upper limb or planned botox injection during the studyperiod, including the follow-up;

• inability to don the orthosis on the impaired upper limb;

• bone instability in relevant areas of the upper extremity (unconsolidated fractures,fractures due to osteoporosis);

• fixed contractures involving the impaired upper limb (e.g. frozen shoulder);

• shoulder instability;

• severe pain syndromes caused or intensified by rehabilitation with Armeo Power;

• patients who need isolation for infectious diseases ;

• epileptic disorder with frequent attacks that carry the risk of having a seizureduring rehabilitation with Armeo Power;

• history of physical or neurological conditions that interfere with study proceduresor assessment of motor function;

• interruption of treatment for 1 week, or 5 consecutive sessions;

• participation in other innovative treatment protocols for the upper limbrehabilitation (e.g. robotics, virtual reality, AOT ... etc).