Use of Intensive Visual Stimulation Through Video Therapy to Enhance Lower Limb Motor Recovery After Stroke (SIVIMI). A Single-Center Pilot Study Using a Single-Case Experimental Design (SCED)

Stroke frequently results in persistent lower limb motor impairment affecting gait and functional mobility (1-2). While video-based therapies have shown proof of concept for upper limb rehabilitation after stroke, their effectiveness for lower limb motor recovery remains insufficiently documented (3-5).

This study is a single-center pilot trial using a Single-Case Experimental Design (SCED) with multiple baseline durations, chosen to account for the high interindividual variability observed in subacute and chronic post-stroke patients undergoing rehabilitation (6). This design allows each participant to serve as their own control through repeated measurements over time (6).

Participants are included between 1 month and 1 year post-stroke while receiving inpatient or outpatient rehabilitation in a Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation department. All participants initially undergo a control phase combining standardized rehabilitation with sham video therapy (placebo condition). The duration of this baseline phase is randomized (1, 2, or 3 weeks) across participants.

The experimental phase consists of 5 weeks of intensive video therapy added to usual care, with five sessions per week. A post-intervention sham phase is followed by a follow-up period lasting up to 21 weeks post-intervention, with repeated assessments conducted at weeks 13, 17, and 21 to evaluate maintenance of treatment effects.

The primary objective is to evaluate changes in functional mobility, assessed using repeated measurements of the Timed Up and Go test. Secondary objectives include evaluation of gait endurance, motor impairment, muscle tone, balance, and quality of life