I-Corps: Robotic system for physical rehabilitation

这一i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力涉及到恢复因疾病或受伤而造成的运动障碍。在商业上，该项目属于康复机器人市场，特别是涉及神经康复的细分市场。目前，现有的机器人康复技术主要集中在中风后运动功能的恢复，将患者的运动限制在单一平面上。该项目涉及一种机器人装置，它通过a)允许不受限制的3D运动，以及b)除了运动训练方法之外还包括体感，从而扩展了目前康复机器人的范围。这个i-Corps项目的商业潜力并不局限于专门从事中风康复的诊所。该设备可以用于包括中风在内的广泛疾病，但也可以扩展到帕金森氏症、肌张力障碍和创伤性脑损伤的患者。这个i-Corps项目进一步开发了一种机器人康复设备，旨在改善手腕/手的功能。该机器人由一系列电机组成，可以被动地移动人类的手腕/手，或帮助/抵抗人类手腕的主动运动。它允许不受限制的三维运动，同时精确记录手腕关节运动。该系统与可提供运动反馈的可视虚拟现实环境相集成，并可作为基于视觉的训练制度的接口。这项技术已经在300多名年龄在18-82岁之间的人类用户中进行了测试。它已被应用于评估中风幸存者和帕金森氏症患者的感觉和运动功能障碍。其结果测量的重测信度和效度已经建立。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project concerns the rehabilitation of movement deficits due to disease or injury. Commercially, the project falls within the rehabilitation robot market, specifically the segment that addresses neurological rehabilitation. Currently, available robotic rehabilitation technology focuses mainly on the recovery of motor function after stroke and restricts patient motion to a single plane. This project involves a robotic device that extends the scope of current rehabilitation robots by a) allowing unrestricted 3D movement, and b) incorporating somatosensory in addition to motor training methods. The commercial potential of this I-Corps project is not restricted to clinics specializing on stroke rehabilitation. The device can be used on a broad disease spectrum that includes stroke, but can be extended to patients with Parkinson's disease, dystonia, and traumatic brain injuries.This I-Corps project further develops a robotic rehabilitation device that seeks to improve wrist/hand function. The robot comprises a series of motors that can passively move the human wrist/hand, or assist/resist active human wrist motion. It allows for unrestricted 3-dimensional motion while precisely recording wrist joint motion. The system is integrated with a visual virtual reality environment that can provide movement feedback and can serve as an interface for visual-based training regimes. The technology has been tested in over 300 human users aged 18-82 years. It has been applied to assess sensory and motor dysfunction in stroke survivors and patients with Parkinson's disease. Test-retest reliability and validity of its outcome measures has been established.