2. Materials and Methods
muscle contraction, fatigue
MUSCLE WEAKNESS, CONTRACTION, POLAND
A prospective randomized clinical trial was conducted in the Neuro-rehabilitation Ward of the Provincial Hospital in Poznan, Poland, between January and August 2022. The study has been registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, ID: NCT05130736.Participants who were transferred directly from Intensive Care Units (ICUs) due to post-viral fatigue after experiencing a severe course of COVID-19 according to the criteria presented by Carod-Artal [The CG received standard neurological rehabilitation for 120 min a day, while the IG received the same neurological rehabilitation for 75 min a day, complemented by 45 min of exercises on the rehabilitation robot (Egzotech sp. z o.o., Gliwice, Poland). The rehabilitation robot was a device constructed to support physiotherapists and patients during the rehabilitation process. Due to the fact that the robot is EMG-driven, the device is able to help patients with relatively low muscle strength perform active exercises. Even if muscle contraction, due to its weakness, is not visible, electrodes applied above the muscles record changes in their activity during the contraction. Those signals trigger the actuator, which moves the movable parts (extensions) of the device. A limb of the patient is attached to those extensions by straps, which allows them to perform a movement (such as flexion and extension of the elbow) and control the movement even in a situation when normal movement will not be possible due to muscle weakness. The intervention was described in detail in a previous feasibility study [