Impedance-controlled, minimally-assistive robotic training of severely impaired hemiparetic patients

The paper describes a pilot study in the robotic training of severely impaired hemiparetic patients. It provides arguments in favor of impedance control, with a backdrivable manipulandum characterized by a very low level of the intrinsic mechanical impedance, and proposes a method of minimally assistive robotic training that focuses on outward reaching movements of large amplitude. This type of training is well accepted by the patients and appears to help them decrease the dominating flexion patterns that characterize their pathology