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Concept
Rehabilitation robotics
Summary
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 with 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 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 with 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.
Official source
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Related publications (32)
Context-Aware Monitoring of Hand Motor Primitives in Daily Life Activities: A Pathway to Objectively Assess Rehabilitation of Patients with Upper-Limb Neurological Impairment
The hands, our silent performers in daily life, face overwhelming challenges when neurological impairments disrupt the simple tasks that compose our daily symphony. This thesis unveils a comprehensive framework for the objective monitoring of upper-limb re ...
EPFL2024Probing and modulating inter-areal coupling in the cortical visual motion processing pathway with non-invasive brain stimulation
In the last few years, stroke ranked as the second most common cause of death and is the third most significant condition affecting disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) worldwide. Being the most prevalent and quality of life impacting post-stroke symptom ...
EPFL2024Related people (3)
Related units (2)
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Cerebral palsy
Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sensation, vision, hearing, and speaking. Often, babies with cerebral palsy do not roll over, sit, crawl or walk as early as other children of their age. Other symptoms include seizures and problems with thinking or reasoning, each of which occur in about one-third of people with CP.