Page 330 - Handbook of Electronic Assistive Technology

Chapter 11 • Robotics 319

FIGURE 11-4 Bi-Manu-Track�

structure. It thus has a semi-exoskeletal structure. The ARMin incorporates three modes of
operation: (1) passive mobilisation, (2) active game-supported arm therapy and (3) active
training of ADL. An audio-visual display illustrates the movement task to the patient (Nef
et al., 2006).

Lower Limb Robotic Rehabilitation Systems
Gait impairments following neurological disorders such as spinal cord injuries (SCIs) and
stroke are often disabling and have a negative impact on quality of life. Therefore recovery
of walking is a top priority and considered one of the primary objectives of the rehabilita-
tion process.
Allowing wheelchair users to stand and ambulate can influence community mobility,
social participation and profoundly combat secondary medical issues associated with
lack of weight bearing such as osteoporosis, urinary tract infections and pressure sores
(Karimi, 2011).
Gait training enables the user to practise walking movements repetitively and in a
physically correct manner to induce improvements of motor cortex representations,
recover and strengthen the muscle groups and improve coordination (Calabrò et al., 2016).
Conventional gait training generally involves exercises on a treadmill with partial body
weight support (BWS) and manual assistance of physiotherapists. The main limitation of
this treatment is that it is labour intensive, and requires a lot of effort by physiotherapists
in assisting the gait of patients, setting the paretic limb and controlling trunk movements
(Werner et al., 2002). To overcome these issues, there has been an effort towards applying
robotic devices for gait training.