{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,27]],"date-time":"2026-08-27T05:17:41Z","timestamp":1787807861123,"version":"build-2784847793"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,25]],"date-time":"2026-08-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1787616000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003478","name":"Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["14060101-01"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["14060101-01"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003478","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001691","name":"Japan Society for the Promotion of Science","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["20K19303"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["20K19303"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001691","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001691","name":"Japan Society for the Promotion of Science","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["24K15839"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["24K15839"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001691","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"ZENKYOREN"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["J. Funct. Morphol. Kinesiol.","JFMK"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background and Objectives: The hybrid assistive limb (HAL) is a wearable robotic device used for rehabilitation that assists the voluntary movements of the user by detecting muscle action potentials and driving actuators positioned next to the hip and knee joints. Although upper-limb HAL training has been studied for brachial plexus injury (BPI), its electrophysiological influence remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to assess the electrophysiological influences of upper-limb HAL-assisted biofeedback (BF) training during elbow flexion rehabilitation in patients with BPI. Methods: Five patients with BPI (average age, 37.2 years) were enrolled after undergoing elbow flexor reconstruction through intercostal nerve-to-musculocutaneous nerve transfer. All participants received outpatient elbow flexion training with the upper-limb HAL at frequencies ranging from once weekly to once monthly. All patients started upper-limb HAL training when re-innervation was observed, and a biceps brachii muscle strength of grade 1 was achieved. Muscle activity was measured using surface electromyography in five patients during upper-limb HAL training, when the biceps brachii muscle strength was graded as Medical Research Council grades 1 and 2, to compare activity with and without HAL. Results: In five patients, electromyographic activity of the biceps brachii during elbow flexion reached 74.9 \u00b1 22.7% of maximal contraction while using the HAL device, compared with 60.3 \u00b1 16.7% without HAL assistance, indicating significantly greater muscle activation during HAL-assisted movement. Conclusions: Robotic BF training for elbow flexion with the upper-limb HAL may serve as a high-quality electromyographic rehabilitation approach for patients recovering from BPI.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jfmk11030332","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,25]],"date-time":"2026-08-25T08:00:48Z","timestamp":1787644848000},"page":"332","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Robotic Training Using a Novel Upper-Limb Hybrid Assistive Limb After Brachial Plexus Injury: An Electrophysiological Observational Case Series Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4455-4585","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Shigeki","family":"Kubota","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Institute of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba 305-8575, Ibaraki, Japan"},{"name":"Department of Occupational Therapy, Ibaraki Prefectural University of Health Sciences, 4669-2 Ami, Ami, Inashiki 300-0394, Ibaraki, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2953-6434","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hideki","family":"Kadone","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Innovating Medicine and Engineering (CIME), University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba 305-8575, Ibaraki, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7491-4516","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yukiyo","family":"Shimizu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Institute of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba 305-8575, Ibaraki, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9293-3531","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Masashi","family":"Yamazaki","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Institute of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba 305-8575, Ibaraki, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Green, D.P., Hotchkiss, R.N., Pederson, W.C., and Wolfe, S.W. 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