People in Cornwall who have had a stroke need for the study

People in Cornwall who had suffered a stroke in the last 10 years were asked to take part in a study.

Staff at NHS Cornwall Partnership Trust said they needed nine people who had suffered a stroke between six months and 10 years ago.

The trust’s research team and stroke and neurological rehabilitation service will look at ways to help arm recovery after a stroke.

Consultant physiotherapist Angela Gibbon said the study would look to see if the current rehabilitation process could be improved.

The trial is known as Triceps (transcutaneous limb recovery after stroke) and will look at a treatment called transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation.

It is led by researchers from Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Sheffield.

Ms Gibbon said: “Upper limb rehabilitation for people who have had a stroke tends to be a lot of repetitive activities with the arm, strengthening exercises.

“This means using the arm a lot in functional tasks.

“So we get people to do everyday activities. Sometimes we use electrical stimulation to stimulate the arm muscles.”

Liz Tremayne-Ward, team leader for the trust’s stroke and neurological rehabilitation service, said the study was really exciting.

“We rarely get studies that focus on people with stroke further into their recovery.

“For us it’s about developing the evidence. This is an exciting opportunity to get something evidence-based to support practice.”

“We will also see if this is a therapy that we can offer to our patients,” she added.