Abstract
The goal of this paper is to address a topic that is rarely investigated in the literature of technology-assisted motor rehabilitation, that is, the integration of auditory feedback in the rehabilitation device. After a brief introduction on rehabilitation robotics, the main concepts of auditory feedback are presented, together with relevant approaches, techniques, and technologies available in this domain. Current uses of auditory feedback in the context of technology-assisted rehabilitation are then reviewed. In particular, a comparative quantitative analysis over a large corpus of the recent literature suggests that the potential of auditory feedback in rehabilitation systems is currently and largely underexploited. Finally, several scenarios are proposed in which the use of auditory feedback may contribute to overcome some of the main limitations of current rehabilitation systems, in terms of user engagement, development of acute-phase and home rehabilitation devices, learning of more complex motor tasks, and improving activities of daily living.
Highlights
Stroke is the leading cause of movement disability in the USA and Europe [1, 2]
The goal of this paper is to address a topic that is rarely investigated in the literature of technology-assisted motor rehabilitation, that is, the integration of auditory feedback in the rehabilitation device
This paper has reviewed the literature of auditory display with the goal of demonstrating the potential of auditory feedback for robot-aided rehabilitation
Summary
Stroke is the leading cause of movement disability in the USA and Europe [1, 2]. In the EU, there are 200 to 300 stroke cases per 100,000 every year, and about 30% survive with major motor deficits [3]. Recent reviews on the first randomized controlled trials (RCTs) showed that patients who receive robot-assisted arm training following stroke are not more likely to improve their activities of daily living (ADLs) with respect to patients who received standard rehabilitation treatment, but arm motor function and strength of the paretic arm may improve [18, 28,29,30]. This paper analyzes current uses of auditory feedback in poststroke motor rehabilitation and presents strategies for improving robotic and virtual rehabilitation systems by means of leading-edge audio technologies In this context, the term auditory feedback denotes an audio signal, automatically generated and played back in response to an action or an internal state of the system, understood as both the mechanical device and the user itself.
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