Locally made robotic device helps stroke victims regain use of hands

I slip my left hand into the Hand of Hope - a metal casing on the back with straps that tighten around each finger. It's just like a scene from the films.

Will I now achieve superhuman strength? Will I crush walnuts without a nutcracker? Sensors are attached to the muscles in my outer and inner forearm, and with a switch of a button, the robotic contraption clenches my left hand into a fist.

What happens next I find initially slightly spooky - it's a sense of mind over matter. I've been told by Michael Tsui Kam-fai of Rehab-Robotics not to move my hand. Instead, what I'm about to do is open my hand and stretch it by using my brain.

Actually, I'm not that good at it. Tsui's co-worker, Hazel Kwong, brings the level down a bit and on the big white screen the blue colour bouncing up and down on a graph is my - initially paltry - attempt to get my brain to open my hand. And then it happens. The robotic hand buzzes as it opens up and my hand is outstretched.

Tsui's Hand of Hope system brings hope to those who've suffered a stroke, sometimes ending up with one hand in a claw. Through repetitive movements, the hand helps the brain to rewire neurological pathways to the motor functions and make them relearn movement.

Typically, a stroke patient can make some basic movements with the upper parts of the arm but has little control over the hand. With the Hand of Hope, the device detects the tiny muscle impulses in the upper part of the arm as the patient tries to move a hand.