User perspectives on the design and setup of lower limb mirror therapy equipment after stroke: a technical report

Objectives: To co-design lower limb mirror therapy (MT) equipment and setup by working directly with stroke survivors and physiotherapists.
Design: Co-design approach through focus groups.
Participants: Twenty-six participants. Sixteen stroke survivors and ten physiotherapists.
Data collection and analysis: Data were collected in an iterative process through two sets of focus groups. Firstly, prototype one of the MT equipment was presented to the participants. They were encouraged to use and comment on it. Then, the key requirements for ankle exercise with MT were presented, and participants discussed whether the prototype one was able to deliver these requirements. These findings informed iterations to the device, and a second prototype was produced and discussed in the second set of focus groups. The final prototype was then produced based on the participants’ feedback. All focus groups were audio-recorded, followed by verbatim transcriptions and thematic analysis.
Results: Main characteristics required of the lower limb MT device were found to be: the ability to produce MT ankle exercise from an upright sitting posture, an adjustable angle between 5 to 15 degree from the midline to allow clear lower limb reflection during seated exercise, and a lightweight device to enable easy use for stroke survivors.
Conclusion: This work produced an iteratively co-design lower limb MT to be used with stroke survivors.
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