Review Article

Robotic Technologies and Rehabilitation: New Tools for Stroke Patients’ Therapy

Table 2

Main electromechanical and robot-assisted arm training devices.

DevicesCharacteristics

InMotion robot3 active degrees of freedom (DOFs) wrist robot mounted at the
tip of a companion planar robot (MIT-MANUS), allowing 5 active DOFs at the shoulder, the elbow, and the wrist.

Mirror Image Movement Enhancer6 DOFs robot manipulator; the treatment focused on shoulder and elbow function; unilateral or bilateral upper limb training.

Bi-Manu-Track1 DOF system to train forearm pronation/supination and wrist
flexion/extension; bilateral training in passive or active mode; no feedback to the patient.

Gentle/S3 DOFs robot manipulator (HapticMaster, FCS Robotics, The
Netherlands) with an extra 3DOF passive gimbal mechanism (allows for pronation/supination of the elbow as well as flexion and extension of the wrist), an exercise table, computer screen, overhead frame and chair.

Arm robot ARMinSemiexoskeleton for movement of the shoulder (3DOFs), the
elbow (1DOF), the forearm (1DOF), and the wrist (1DOF); matched with an audio-visual display used to illustrate the movement task to the patient.

Assisted Rehabilitation and Measurement Guide4 DOFs robotic device provides arm reaching therapy for patients with chronic hemiparesis; it gives patient a real time visual feedback of the location of the arm.

REHAROB Therapeutic SystemFirstly for rehabilitation robotics, uses standard industrial robots,
not modified, but equipped with extra safety systems and a special instrumented orthotic, developed for fixing the patient's limb it provides passive shoulder and elbow physiotherapy. limb; it provides passive shoulder and elbow physiotherapy.

NeuroRehabilitation Robot3 DOFs robot, based on direct-drive wire actuation; it gives patient visual and auditory feedbacks; easily transportable.