Bio-Cooperative Approach for the Human-in-the-Loop Control of an End-Effector Rehabilitation Robot

Frontiers in Neurorobotics

Loredana Zollo¹  Francesco Draicchio²  Francesca Cordella³  Davide Simonetti³  Francesco Scotto di Luzio³  Silvia Sterzi⁴  Sandra Miccinilli⁴ 

[1] Environmental Medicine, Monte Porzio Catone, Rome, Italy;;INAIL, Department of Occupational &Research Unit of Biomedical Robotics and Biomicrosystems, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Rome, Italy;Unit of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Rome, Italy;

关键词: upper limb robot-aided rehabilitation;    arm-gravity support;    human-in-the-loop;    biocooperative control;    muscle activation;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fnbot.2018.00067

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The design of patient-tailored rehabilitative protocols represents one of the crucial factors that influence motor recovery mechanisms, such as neuroplasticity. This approach, including the patient in the control loop and characterized by a control strategy adaptable to the user's requirements, is expected to significantly improve functional recovery in robot-aided rehabilitation. In this paper, a novel 3D bio-cooperative robotic platform is developed. A new arm-weight support system is included into an operational robotic platform for 3D upper limb robot-aided rehabilitation. The robotic platform is capable of adapting therapy characteristics to specific patient needs, thanks to biomechanical and physiological measurements, and thus closing the subject in the control loop. The level of arm-weight support and the level of the assistance provided by the end-effector robot are varied on the basis of muscular fatigue and biomechanical indicators. An assistance-as-needed approach is applied to provide the appropriate amount of assistance. The proposed platform has been experimentally validated on 10 healthy subjects; they performed 3D point-to-point tasks in two different conditions, i.e., with and without assistance-as-needed. The results have demonstrated the capability of the proposed system to properly adapt to real needs of the patients. Moreover, the provided assistance was shown to reduce the muscular fatigue without negatively influencing motion execution.

【 授权许可】

Unknown