Research of rehabilitation aid system by DOF constraintable mechanism and NMES for hemiplegic upper limbs

In this paper, rehabilitation aid system by selectable DOF constraintable mechanism and NMES (Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation) for hemiplegic upper limbs was developed. By using this mechanism, it became possible to separate synergic movement while flexion-extension training of shoulder and elbow by constraining each individual joints. As the clinical trial result by using this mechanism and NMES, the shoulder-elbow UE-FMA sub-scores improved significantly. In this research, NMES timing control system and quantitative evaluation method for sensing the flexion-extension movement of the elbow and shoulder joints are proposed.