Rehabilitation robotics

Rehabilitation robotics is a field of research dedicated to understanding and augmenting rehabilitation through the application of robotic devices. Rehabilitation robotics includes development of robotic devices tailored for assisting different sensorimotor functions(e.g. arm, hand, leg, ankle), development of different schemes of assisting therapeutic training, and assessment of sensorimotor performance (ability to move) of patient; here, robots are used mainly as therapy aids instead of assistive devices. Rehabilitation using robotics is generally well tolerated by patients, and has been found to be an effective adjunct to therapy in individuals suffering from motor impairments, especially due to stroke. Rehabilitation robotics is a field of research dedicated to understanding and augmenting rehabilitation through the application of robotic devices. Rehabilitation robotics includes development of robotic devices tailored for assisting different sensorimotor functions(e.g. arm, hand, leg, ankle), development of different schemes of assisting therapeutic training, and assessment of sensorimotor performance (ability to move) of patient; here, robots are used mainly as therapy aids instead of assistive devices. Rehabilitation using robotics is generally well tolerated by patients, and has been found to be an effective adjunct to therapy in individuals suffering from motor impairments, especially due to stroke. Rehabilitation robotics can be considered a specific focus of biomedical engineering, and a part of human-robot interaction. In this field, clinicians, therapists, and engineers collaborate to help rehabilitate patients. Prominent goals in the field include: developing implementable technologies that can be easily used by patients, therapists, and clinicians; enhancing the efficacy of clinician's therapies; and increasing the ease of activities in the daily lives of patients. The International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics occurs every two years, with the first conference in 1989. The most recent conference was held in July 2017 in London (UK), while the next ICORR conference will be held in June 2019 in Toronto, as part of the RehabWeek. Rehabilitation robotics was introduced two decades ago for patients who have neurological disorders. The people that you will most commonly find using rehabilitation robots are disabled people or therapists. When the rehabilitation robots were created they were not intended to be recovery robots but to help people recognizing objects through touch and for people who suffered from nervous system disorder. Rehabilitation robots are used in the recuperation process of disabled patients in standing up, balancing and gait. These robots must keep up with a human and their movement, therefore in the making of the machine the makers need to be sure that it will be consistent with the progress of the patient. Much rigorous work is put into the design because the robot will work with people who have disabilities and will not be able to react quickly in case something goes wrong. Rehabilitation robots are designed with applications of techniques that determine the adaptability level of the patient. Techniques include but are not limited to active assisted exercise, active constrained exercise, active resistive exercise, passive exercise, and adaptive exercise. In active assisted exercise, the patient moves his or her hand in a predetermined pathway without any force pushing against it. Active constrained exercise is the movement of the patient’s arm with an opposing force; if it tries to move outside of what it is supposed to. Active resistive exercise is the movement with opposing forces. These machines MIT-Manus, Bi-Manu-Track and MIME make the active resistive exercise possible. Passive exercise needs to be pushed from the patient. Finally, an adaptive exercise is an excessive workout that the robot has never done and is adapting to the new unknown pathway. These devices Bi-ManuTrack and MIME support the adaptive exercise possible. The active constrained exercise is supported by all the machines that are mentioned. Over the years the number of rehabilitation robotics has grown but they are very limited due to the clinical trials. Many clinics have trials but do not accept the robots because they wish they were remotely controlled. Having Robots involved in the rehabilitation of a patient has a few positive aspects. One of the positive aspects is the fact that you can repeat the process or exercise as many times as you wish. Another positive aspect is the fact that you can get exact measurements of their improvement or decline. You can get the exact measurements through the sensors on the device. While the device is taking a measurement you need to be careful because the device can be disrupted once it is done because of the different movements the patient does to get out. The rehabilitation robot can apply constant therapy for long periods. The rehabilitation robot is a wonderful device to use according to many therapists, scientists, and patients that have gone through the therapy. In the process of a recovery the rehabilitation robot is unable to understand the patient’s needs like a well experienced therapist would. The robot is unable to understand now but in the future the device will be able to understand. Another plus of having a rehabilitation robot is that there is no physical effort put into work by the therapist. Lately, rehabilitation robotics have been used in training medicine, surgery, remote surgery and other things, but there have been too many complaints about the robot not being controlled by a remote. Many people would think that using an industrial robot as a rehabilitation robot would be the same thing, but this is not true. Rehabilitation robots need to be adjustable and programmable, because the robot can be used for multiple reasons. Meanwhile, an industrial robot is always the same; there is no need to change the robot unless the product it is working with is bigger or smaller. In order for an industrial robot to work it would have to me more adjustable to its new task. Hand of Hope is an intention-driven exoskeleton hand that focuses on improving motion of the hand and fingers in stroke victims, developed by Rehab-Robotics. The robotic hand is controlled by EMG signals in the forearm muscles, meaning that patients can move their hand using only their brain. The device also has a continuous passive motion mode, where the actions of hand opening and closing are done involuntarily. Ekso Bionics is currently developing and manufacturing intelligently powered exoskeleton bionic devices that can be strapped on as wearable robots to enhance the strength, mobility, and endurance of soldiers and paraplegics. Tyromotion is currently developing and manufacturing a set of intelligent rehabilitation devices for the upper extremity. The hand rehabilitation robot called AMADEO offers a range of rehabilitation strategies including passive, assistive, ROM, force and haptic training. The arm rehabilitation robot called DIEGO offers bilateral arm therapy including assistive force for weight reduction and full 3D tracking of the arm movement for augemented feedback training in a virtual reality environment.