Assistive Exoskeleton for Task Based Physiotherapy in 3-Dimensional Space

Stroke forms one of the leading causes of death amongst adults in industrialized countries, and although survival rates are comparatively high in up to 1/3 of patients there is functional impairments (particularly in the upper limbs) that can persist even after rehabilitation training. Tasked based rehabilitation therapy (shaping) is a new approach that seems to offer good success compared to traditional methods, however, the technique requires very intensive and prolonged treatment. Robot mediated physiotherapy is the recent answer to the shortage of staff and the cost associated with this. In this paper a robotic approach to task based therapy is shown. The work focuses on how a robotic exoskeleton operating in a 3D volume can be used in conjunction with a Virtual Environment rehabilitation suite for training patients in relearning daily motor tasks. Salford Rehabilitation Exoskeleton (SRE) is used as an assistive device which helps individuals retrain in performing motor tasks by assisting them to complete therapy regimes. EMG recordings are used to show the capacity of the system to mediate the level of assistance provided from full assistance to zero aid