13th ISPO World Congress Congress Lecture [3800] Abstract [844]

Author Guidali, Marco (Zrich CH) | MSc ETH Zrich, Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems (IRIS) - Sensory-Motor Systems Lab Title Training of Functional Movements with the Arm Rehabilitation Robot ARMin Coauthors Klamroth V., Riener R. Summary Robot-assisted therapy has become a common tool in neurorehabilitation. To enhance the transfer from therapy to daily life a system for the training of functional arm movements was developed and evaluated. Introduction Task-orientated repetitive movements can improve motor recovery in patients with neurological lesions, e.g. after stroke. In the last years the application of robotics to assist, enhance and evaluate the rehabilitation therapy has been increased. Many robots focus only on movements in a few degrees of freedom, e.g. planar movements, distal functions, hand function. To maximally involve the patient and enhance the transfer to daily life, functional movements should be exercised. Methods The arm rehabilitation ARMin was developed at Balgrist University Hospital in collaboration with ETH Zrich. The latest version was extended to seven degrees of freedom and includes a new forearm module and a hand module to support hand opening and closing. Important activities of daily living (ADL) were identified and mimicked by a virtual world with a state-of-the art game engine. In order to maximize the patients voluntary effort during the training a path control strategy supports him only as much as needed. The feasibility of the system was tested with several healthy subjects and one patient. Results During the experiment all healthy persons and the patient were able to accomplish the demanded tasks. The healthy subjects were instructed to behave passive or active to evaluate the path control strategy, which adapted itself to the needs of the subject and did not hinder
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13th ISPO World Congress Congress Lecture [3800] Abstract [844]

faster movements. A stroke patient participated in the experiment and was able to perform functional movements with the assistance of the robot. Conclusion First experiments showed that the system is suitable for the training of activities of daily living. The system is currently evaluated in a controlled clinical multicenter trial with the goal to compare robot-assisted therapy to conventional therapy regarding the transfer to daily life. References Image: ARMin3_844.jpg

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