A wearable robot for upper limb rehabilitation of patients with neurological disorders

Passive and active movement therapies are essential in the rehabilitation process post stroke and other neurological disorders. Considering the shortage of therapists and limited insurance coverage, qualified healthcare services are not always available to patients. There is also a lack of compact rehabilitation robots powerful enough to perform forceful stretching of spastic joint and yet flexible enough for backdrivable active movement training with motivating game interface and suitable for clinical/home settings. To address the issues, an affordable and wearable robot has been developed to perform therapeutic rehabilitation with the following three integrated functions: 1) stretching a spastic/stiff joint forcefully and precisely based on the joint resistance. 2) Active movement training by playing customized computer games with assistance or resistance provided by the wearable robot when needed. 3) Biomechanical outcome evaluation. The wearable robot with combined functions of passive and active movement training can potentially provide convenient, user-friendly and motivating rehabilitation to many patients with neurological impairments.