Neuromuscular and Rehabilitation Robotics Laboratory (NeuRRo Lab), Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Ann Biomed Eng. 2018 Jul;46(7):1047-1065. doi: 10.1007/s10439-018-2020-z. Epub 2018 Apr 6.
Robotic rehabilitation is a promising approach to treat individuals with neurological or orthopedic disorders. However, despite significant advancements in the field of rehabilitation robotics, this technology has found limited traction in clinical practice. A key reason for this issue is that most robots are expensive, bulky, and not scalable for in-home rehabilitation. Here, we introduce a semi-passive rehabilitation robot (SepaRRo) that uses controllable passive actuators (i.e., brakes) to provide controllable resistances at the end-effector over a large workspace in a manner that is cost-effective and safe for in-home use. We also validated the device through theoretical analyses, hardware experiments, and human subject experiments. We found that by including kinematic redundancies in the robot's linkages, the device was able to provide controllable resistances to purely resist the movement of the end-effector, or to gently steer (i.e., perturb) its motion away from the intended path. When testing these capabilities on human subjects, we found that many of the upper-extremity muscles could be selectively targeted based on the forcefield prescribed to the user. These results indicate that SepaRRo could serve as a low-cost therapeutic tool for upper-extremity rehabilitation; however, further testing is required to evaluate its therapeutic benefits in patient population.
机器人康复是一种有前途的治疗神经或骨科疾病患者的方法。然而，尽管康复机器人领域取得了重大进展，但这项技术在临床实践中应用有限。造成这个问题的一个关键原因是，大多数机器人昂贵、庞大，不适合家庭康复使用。在这里，我们引入了一种半被动康复机器人（SepaRRo），它使用可控制的被动执行器（即制动器）在一个大工作空间内为末端执行器提供可控制的阻力，这种方式经济实惠且适合家庭使用。我们还通过理论分析、硬件实验和人体实验对该设备进行了验证。我们发现，通过在机器人的连杆中包含运动学冗余，该设备能够提供可控制的阻力，以纯粹抵抗末端执行器的运动，或轻柔地引导（即扰动）其运动远离预定路径。在对人体受试者进行测试时，我们发现，根据为用户规定的力场，可以有针对性地选择许多上肢肌肉。这些结果表明，SepaRRo 可以作为一种低成本的上肢康复治疗工具；然而，还需要进一步的测试来评估其在患者群体中的治疗效果。
