Abstract

This paper describes the development of a pneumatic robot for functional movement training of the arm and hand after stroke. The device is based on the Wilmington Robotic Exoskeleton (WREX), a passive, mobile arm support developed for children with arm weakness caused by a debilitative condition. Previously, we scaled WREX for use by adults, instrumented it with potentiometers, and incorporated a simple grip strength sensor. The resulting passive device (Training WREX or T-WREX) allows individuals with severe motor impairment to practice functional movements (reaching, eating, and washing) in a simple virtual reality environment called Java Therapy 2.0. However, the device is limited since it can only apply a fixed pattern of assistive forces to the arm. In addition, its gravity balance function does not restore full range of motion. Therefore, we are also developing a robotic version of WREX named Pneu-WREX, which can apply a wide range of forces to the arm during naturalistic movements. Pneu-WREX uses pneumatic actuators, non-linear force control, and passive counter-balancing to allow application of a wide range of forces during naturalistic upper extremity movements. Besides a detailed description of the mechanical design and kinematics of Pneu-WREX, we present results from a survey of 29 therapists on the use of such a robotic device.

Highlights

  • EACH year in the U.S over 700,000 people survive a stroke [1]

  • Our goal is to develop a device that can safely apply a wide range of forces to the arm during naturalistic movement

  • One reason is that it is very difficult to create a device with a large number of degrees of freedom but still have the ability to generate large forces with a good dynamic range. Our solution to this problem is to combine the passive counterbalance of T-Wilmington Robotic Exoskeleton (WREX), pneumatic actuators, and non-linear force control

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Summary

Introduction

EACH year in the U.S over 700,000 people survive a stroke [1]. 50% of stroke survivors have chronic hemiparesis [1]. Movement impairments are typically treated with intensive, hands-on physical and occupational therapy for several weeks after the initial injury. Due to economic pressures on the U.S health care system, stroke patients are receiving less therapy. The home rehabilitation that results from these pressures is self directed with little professional or quantitative feedback.

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