Robot-Assisted Rehabilitation

Review

The present and future of robotic technology in rehabilitation

Laut J, Porfiri M & Raghavan P.

Curr Phys Med Rehabil Rep Nov 2016

DOI: 10.1007/s40101-016-0139-0

Link to abstract: link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40141-016-0139-0>

Robot-assisted rehabilitation can contribute to conventional therapy by delivering consistent training and by benchmarking and monitoring progress. Robots can offer efficiencies in time and over distance. They may act passively or actively, and may be “end-effector robots” which act through an handle that is gripped or provide an exo-skeleton that mimics the movements of the limb. Robot-assisted rehabilitation can function remotely through telerehabilitation, reaching clients in their homes.

Robot therapies leverage entertainment software to provide motivation and engagement with an aim to boost compliance with interventions, and, through distance technologies, may offer efficiencies to the therapist. Equipment costs and the need for therapist-friendly software that targets rehabilitation intervention goals remain challenges to wider adoption.