Self-powered robots to reduce motor slacking during upper-extremity rehabilitation: a proof of concept study

摘要

Background: Robotic rehabilitation is a highly promising approach to recover lost functions after stroke or other neurological disorders. Unfortunately, robotic rehabilitation currently suffers from "motor slacking", a phenomenon in which the human motor system reduces muscle activation levels and movement excursions, ostensibly to minimize metabolic- and movement-related costs. Consequently, the patient remains passive and is not fully engaged during therapy. To overcome this limitation, we envision a new class of body-powered robots and hypothesize that motor slacking could be reduced if individuals must provide the power to move their impaired limbs via their own body (i.e., through the motion of a healthy limb).