ORTE: Robot for Upper Limb Rehabilitation. Biomechanical Analysis of Human Movements

Abstract

This work presents ORTE, an upper limb rehabilitation system that includes: 1) a three-dimensional musculoskeletal model of the upper limb in order to study normal and pathological movements and to simulate a particular shoulder injury and its effect in muscular force, ranges of movement and muscle length changes; and 2) a 5 degrees-of-freedom upper limb robotic exoskeleton that can serves as a tool for the treatment of different injuries in the human arm. We performed the simulation of several upper arm movements of a healthy subject and one with upper brachial plexus injury in a postoperative state to compare and study the differences between them. The development of the musculoskeletal model and the results obtained by the simulations was used to design an adaptable exoskeleton prototype. Tests with different subjects was carry out and the functionality of the rehabilitation system can be demonstrated to assist in the diagnosis and treatment of upper limb injuries.