Abstract
The rehabilitation of patients should not only be limited to the first phases during intense hospital care but also support and therapy should be guaranteed in later stages, especially during daily life activities if the patient’s state requires this. However, aid should only be given to the patient if needed and as much as it is required. To allow this, automatic self-initiated movement support and patient-cooperative control strategies have to be developed and integrated into assistive systems. In this work, we first give an overview of different kinds of neuromuscular diseases, review different forms of therapy, and explain possible fields of rehabilitation and benefits of robotic aided rehabilitation. Next, the mechanical design and control scheme of an upper limb orthosis for rehabilitation are presented. Two control models for the orthosis are explained which compute the triggering function and the level of assistance provided by the device. As input to the model fused sensor data from the orthosis and physiology data in terms of electromyography (EMG) signals are used.
Highlights
The requirements on a social, well-functioning, and modern health care system—including elderly care—are demanding: it must be flexible enough to encounter the increasing process of change and the related challenges
Robotic systems are used in various medical disciplines and different highly specialized applications, for example, in the field of minimally invasive surgery [3]
All experiments were performed by one subject in an upright position with EMG electrodes and orthosis equipped to the subject’s right arm
Summary
The requirements on a social, well-functioning, and modern health care system—including elderly care—are demanding: it must be flexible enough to encounter the increasing process of change and the related challenges. These changes and challenges are triggered, among other things, by the demographic changes, the increase in chronic diseases, the rising costs, and the impending skills shortage [1]. To assure the achievement of these objectives in medical care, the publicly financed science plays a major role. In this context, robotics research is an important element which is increasingly gaining significance [2]. Technical therapy approaches in physiotherapy and occupational therapy are given more and more importance
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