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Various rehabilitation robots have been developed to assist the movement training of the upper limbs of stroke patients, among which some have been used to evaluate the motor recovery. However, how to understand the recovery of motor function from the quantitative assessment following robot-assisted rehabilitation training is still not clear. The objective of this study is to propose a quantitative assessment method of motor function based on the force and trajectory characteristics during robotic training to reflect motor functional recovery. To assist stroke patients who are not able to move voluntarily, an assistive training mode was developed for the robot-assisted rehabilitation system based on admittance control. Then, to validate the relationship between characteristic information and functional recovery, a clinical experiment was conducted, in which nine stroke patients and nine healthy subjects were recruited. The results showed a significant difference in movement range and movement smoothness during trajectory tracking tasks between stroke patients and healthy subjects. The two parameters above have a correlation with the Fugl-Meyer Assessment for Upper Extremity (FMU) of the involved patients. The multiple linear regression analysis showed FMU was positively correlated with parameters (R2=0.91,p&lt, 0.005). This finding indicated that the above-mentioned method can achieve quantitative assessment of motor function for stroke patients during robot-assisted rehabilitation training, which can contribute to promoting rehabilitation robots in clinical practice.

Objective To investigate trunk muscle activity patterns in a person with thoracic spinal cord injury when walking with different un-powered exoskeletons, and to explore how different un-powered exoskeletons affect trunk muscle activity patterns. Case report Data were recorded from a subject with complete spinal cord injury at T10, using an electromyography system on 4 pairs of trunk muscles and a motion capture system simultaneously. Results The participant generated large muscle force to laterally bend and rotate trunk, and swung his leg through the moments generated, not only by trunk flexion and extension, but by trunk rotation. In an energy-stored exoskeleton without springs condition, the energy generated by erector spinae contraction was stored in the energy-stored component in the stance phase and released in the swing phase to compensate for energy generated by the obliquus externus abdominis and avoid overuse of the obliquus externus abdominis. Conclusion These findings prompt further development of un-powered exoskeletons and investigation into trunk muscle functions in patients with spinal cord injury when walking with un-powered exoskeletons.

Robot-assisted therapy has been proved more effective for treating neurological conditions than conventional therapy. It is known that early training can enhance motor learning and improve functional abilities more than chronicphase training. But there is almost no such lower-limb rehabilitation robot for patients within three months after stroke in clinical. This article introduces such a new robot for acute and subacute stroke patients, which can increase joint flexibility, prevent muscle disuse atrophy, help neural plasticity, enhance motor learning and improve functional abilities by providing patients simulating-gait-training. We did randomized controlled trials including total 8 subjects (4 healthy, 4 patients). At the end of rehabilitation training, the patients’ conditions were assessed by nursing and training staff using the Fugl-Meyer Assessment score. After four weeks of robot-assisted therapy, experimental results showed that the patients’ score and their activities of daily living improved a lot. It is proved that the lower-limb rehabilitation robot for acute and subacute patients is effective.

It is generally accepted that early treatment is an effective way in improving body’s function of the stroke patients. This paper reviews the background of the rehabilitation theory and some typical products of lower limb rehabilitation robots. Lower limb rehabilitation robots have been drawn into rehabilitation training. Researchers have done large amounts of rehabilitation training experiments based on these rehabilitation robots. This paper reviews some representative articles. Abundant clinical trials show that robot-assisted rehabilitation therapy is more effective than conventional therapy in Functional Ambulatory Capacity (FAC), walking speed, step length, etc. However, there are few lower limb rehabilitation robots directing at patients in early stage (the first 3 months after illness) in the domestic and international markets. Therefore, lower limb rehabilitation robot for acute and subacute stroke patients is a promising research area in the future.

Stroke patients may have limb paralysis or disturbance of consciousness. In the rehabilitation system, the main task of human-computer interaction focused on visual interaction. In this study, it has been confirmed that the visual feedback system in the rehabilitation has played an important role. This robotic system combines a dual video to meet training needs. In the experiment, trainees trains in accordance with the planned trajectory. Through the combined visual system, motion analysis feeds back to trainees in real time. iIn comparing to traditional training without feedback, the combination of Visual feedback can enhance the trainee's consciousness of balance, train the neural sensitivity of the brain and nerve system, and can restore the movement ability.

Quantitative evaluation for estimating motor function is a prerequisite for clinical application of rehabilitation robot. The current clinical evaluations, such as Fugl-Meyer assessment, still have some deficiency. The study provided an innovative evaluation method, which contrasted the physiological character of impaired limb with the contralateral upper limb of post stroke hemiplegic patients, and investigate the comparability of surface Electromyography (sEMG) between patients and healthy persons during robot-assisted motor recovery training possess similar track and equivalent velocity. There is much comparability of sEMG characteristic in healthy limb of patients compare with healthy person, yet less comparability exist in the impaired limb. The results in the study imply that the method depend on contralateral limb sEMG characteristic have potential capacity in clinical quantitative evaluation of rehabilitation and may competent to associate with other physiological character.

Our goal is to apply robotics and automation technology to assist, quantify, enhance, and verify neuro-rehabilitation. In this paper a novel robot neuro-rehabilitation for upper limb, with many merits, is developed. Mechanism and control of the robot are introduced in detail. By a clinical trial involving 30 stroke patients with three months at Rehabilitation Center of China, some results are obtained 1) robot-aided therapy does not have adverse effects, 2) patients can accept the procedure, 3) the therapy may reduce muscular tension, and 4) manipulation of the impaired upper limb may influence brain recovery. Some new ideas are also presented to make rehabilitation therapy more effectively. These ideas will be helpful to further quicken the development of the robot neuro-rehabilitation.

In order to estimate the effect of neural rehabilitation robot for improving the upper extremity motor function, 23 hemiplegia patients who are BrunnstromTII at least receive clinical rehabilitation training by the upper extremity compound movements rehabilitation training robot. The assistance models of the neural rehabilitation robot and the programming of the clinical rehabilitation training are studied in this dissertation. The clinical assessment results make clear that after a period of rehabilitation treatment, the function of most patients, which could be assessed by Fugl-Meyer method, improved to a certain extent, and the rehabilitation effect is better than the traditional rehabilitation training. The outcome indicates that, the upper extremity compound movements rehabilitation training robot has a significant application prospect in clinical rehabilitation.

In order to improve the effect of robotic rehabilitation therapy, we need to find out which elements of robot training influence it. Our aim is to analysis the relation between the patients-active force and the effect. This paper reviews a clinical therapy involving 6 hemiplegia patients with the upper extremity compound movements rehabilitation training robot developed by Tsinghua University, Beijing. By processing the collected data, we get the evidence that the elevated scores after training and the patients' active force are high correlated. The larger the patient's active force, the better the training effect.

Part flexibility and joint clearance are two of important factors that affect motion precision of machines. The fixed-boundary component modal synthesis (CMS) method and nonlinear impact model was used to study dynamic behaviors of mechanism with flexible parts and clearances at the joints. A test model of slider-crank mechanism was created and numerical simulation was made under several cases. After a coordinate transformation is applied for the fixed-boundary CMS method, the CMS method can be employed easily, improve the precision of computing and efficiency of CMS method and also present the effects of boundary constraints and impact. The coupling effects of flexible parts and clearances at the joints make the mechanism show particular dynamic behaviors that are different from the mechanism without clearances at joints or flexible parts.