In this study, we evaluated the muscle tension in hemiplegia patients using a real-time monitoring system combined with high-intensity laser treatment (HILT) device. Five hemiplegia patients were treated with HILT in the left forearm muscle for 8 minutes, and the muscle was relaxed for 8 minutes following the treatment. Both the gradient of the force-displacement curves and the muscle hardness decreased during the therapy, and the effects were maintained following the treatment. The results show that muscle tension decreased rapidly during laser irradiation, and the efficacy of the treatment depended on the duration of the illness. Consequently, we conclude that this combined HILT and real-time muscle tension monitoring system is useful for evaluating the therapeutic procedure and for treatment of muscle pain.

Keywords: Hemiplegia, High intensity laser therapy, Real-time monitoring, Muscle tension,

OCIS codes: 170.0170; 170.1610; 170.3890