Haptic Robots to Promote Neurorehabilitation

Tanner BarnesBME 281

Stroke:

• A stroke is the sudden death of brain cells in a localized area due to inadequate blood flow

• 7 million people in the United States have survived a stroke

• Only 10% recover completely• 40% suffer moderate to severe impairments

and require special therapy

Cerebral Palsy:• Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a disorder of movement,

muscle tone or posture that affects the developing brain, most often before birth.

• 1 in 303 children in the United States are born with CP

• One third of these children develop hemiplegia, which is total or partial paralysis of half the body

Problem:

• Hemiplegia is common in post stroke patients as well as children with CP

• Upper extremity impairment is exhibited in all patients with hemiplegia

• In some cases, upper extremity motor function can be regained through physical therapy or various other rehabilitation methods

Haptic Master:• Six degrees of freedom haptic interface

robot• Allows the manipulation of virtual

objects and provides haptic feedback to the user

• Capable of assisting user in desired movements if they are unable to make them independently

Results in Stroke Patients:

• After 8-9 therapy sessions over the course of 3 weeks

Results in Children with CP:

• After training one hour a day, three times a week

Advantages:

• More enjoyable therapy for children• Assistive technology• Ability to track progress• Varying difficulties

Disadvantages:

• Small group of patients eligible, must have certain range of joint movement and motor function

• Cost- upwards of $200,000 for system• Not proven to be superior to conventional

therapy techniques

Conclusion:

• There has not been a large enough study completed to prove or disprove this method of therapy

• In feasibility testing, haptic robot therapy appears to be comparable to conventional therapy

• The technology is available for a larger scale study which will provide more conclusive data

• Future studies will determining effectiveness with neurorehabilitation in the upper extremities

References• Adamovich, Sergei. "The New Jersey Institute of Technology Robot-Assisted Virtual

Rehabilitation (NJIT-RAVR) system for children with cerebral palsy: a feasibility study." Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation. 6.40 (2009): n. page. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.

• Adamovich, Sergei. "Incorporating haptic effects into three- dimensional virtual environments to train the hemiparetic upper extremity." IEEE Trans Neural Syst Rehabil Eng.. (Oct.1 2010): n. page. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.

• "Price List." Engineering Systems Technologies. Engineering Systems Technologies, 18 Sep 2013. Web. 17 Nov 2013. <http://www.est-kl.com/fileadmin/media/pdf/EST/est-kl-pl.pdf>.

• http://www.cyberglovesystems.com/products/cyberforce• http://www.stroke.org/site/PageServer?pagename=REHABT • http://www.cdc.gov/features/cerebralpalsy/ • http://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/hemiplegia• http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/stroke• http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cerebral-palsy/DS00302