Design, Development and Control of a Therapeutic Robot Incorporating Aquatic Therapy for Ankle Rehabilitation

César H Guzmán-Valdivia,Omar Désiga-Orenday,Jorge Talavera-Otero,Oscar Madrigal-López,Javier Alejandro Berumen-Torres,Fabio Abel Gómez-Becerra,Andrés Blanco-Ortega,César A Chávez-Olivares,Jorge A Brizuela-Mendoza,Oscar Cruz-Domínguez

doi:10.3390/machines9110254

Abstract

The simple act of walking can occasionally cause ankle sprains. Traditionally, the rehabilitation of a sprained ankle involves physical therapy. Physical therapy is one of the health professions that help regain mobility through manual exercises. Aquatic therapy is one of the most potent water-based anti-inflammatory methods currently employed that increases local blood circulation, decreases pain and swelling, and promotes speedy healing. Several studies have demonstrated that ankle rehabilitation robots have immense potential in patients’ rehabilitation and recovery; however, these robots cannot be used underwater. This paper introduces the design, development, and control of a therapeutic robot incorporating aquatic therapy for ankle rehabilitation. Its primary objective is to design and control a one degree of freedom ankle rehabilitation robot that can be used in water and can recirculate hot water to simultaneously perform physical therapy and aquatic therapy. To conduct this study, an ankle rehabilitation robot was designed, modeled, developed, and controlled. The design and control techniques were evaluated by means of simulation and experimental results.

Highlights

Ankle sprains are highly common and can occur even from walking, thereby resulting in a significant degree of pain and inflammation [1]
Physical therapy is one of the health sciences dedicated to the treatment of injuries such as ankle sprains through therapeutic exercises [3]
Aquatic therapy— known as water therapy or water exercise—is one of the health sciences dedicated to the treatment of injuries, illnesses, and disabilities through therapeutic exercises performed in water for physical rehabilitation [4,5]

Summary

Introduction

Ankle sprains are highly common and can occur even from walking, thereby resulting in a significant degree of pain and inflammation [1]. Involving robots in ankle sprain rehabilitation is beneficial; for instance, it ensures long periods of time without any physical effort from therapists [29]. Zhang et al proposed an adaptive trajectory tracking control strategy implemented on a parallel ankle rehabilitation robot with joint-space force distribution [36]. Ayas and Altas developed and evaluated a fuzzy logic based adaptive admittance control scheme for a parallel ankle rehabilitation robot [41]. Zhang et al proposed a generalized spherical parallel mechanism (GSPM) with 6 motion models for ankle rehabilitation [45]. Zhang et al proposed a generalized spherical parallel me3chofa1n8ism (GSPM) with 6 motion models for ankle rehabilitation [45]. Computer-aided design (CAD) was used to model the three-dimensional (3D) ankle rehabilitation robot (see Figure 2).

Control Strategy of the Ankle Rehabilitation Robot

Modeling and Control of the Hot Water Recirculation System

Kinematic Simulation

Reference Trajectory Tracking Simulations Using a Virtual Prototype

Conclusions