An affordable and safe system for game-based therapy of the ankle joint

Abstract

Abstract Musculoskeletal and nervous system injuries and strokes can influence the ankle in a way, that rehabilitation exercise is inevitable to regain a patient’s quality of life. However, increasing needs for physiotherapists and complex machinery for independent rehabilitation limit the patient’s possibility of experiencing proper care. One approach to address this issue is developing an affordable, safe, and cheap treatment solution. This paper presents a mechanically actuated ankle rehabilitation mechanism, which incorporates the use of the patients’ upper limbs to work on the ankle's range of motion. The mechanism consists of a Four-Bar linkage (FBL) to translate rotary motion into an oscillating angular displacement of the ankle. It provides the base for gamified ankle rehabilitation, acting as an input device for the game, controlled by the user; adopting the mechanism with the commercial games and required steps for designing a game for rehabilitation purposes.