Robotically-Aided Hand Rehabilitation

描述（由申请人提供）：建议开发一种康复机器人，为中风和创伤性脑损伤导致的手部功能缺陷患者提供治疗。机器人将以一种方式提供手部手指的重复打开和关闭，提供1)类似于手在抓取物体时所经历的感觉反馈，2)根据患者的功能水平调节施加力，3)将治疗师从手动移动肢体/关节的周期中解放出来。机器人机构将被设计成允许患者以一种复制正常抓取运动学的方式抓取和释放物体。机器人可以提供被动的运动范围，但会使用反馈（肌肉肌电图用于非常虚弱的手康复的早期阶段，一旦检测到主动运动的力反馈）来调整它为患者尝试启动或执行抓取操作提供的帮助。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Development of a rehabilitation robot to provide therapy to patients with hand function deficits, due to stroke and traumatic brain injury, is proposed. The robot will provide repetitive opening and closing of the digits of the fingers of the hand in a manner that provides 1) sensory feedback similar to that a hand would experience when grasping an object, 2) modulation of applied forces commensurate with the patient's level of function, and 3) frees the therapist from the need to manually move the limb/joint through its cycle. The robotic mechanism will be designed to permit the patient to grasp and release an object in a manner that replicates the normal kinematics of grasping. The robot can provide passive range of motion but will use feedback (muscle EMG for the early stages of rehabilitation of a very weak hand, force feedback once active motion is detected) to adjust the assistance it provides to the patient's attempts to initiate or carry out a grasping maneuver. Phase I will initiate development of the proposed robot, including design, construction, and bench testing of a computer-controlled robotic system prototype. Upon completion of bench testing, the system will be evaluated by researchers and clinicians at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. In Phase II, the utility of a more complete robot prototype, with assistance to the patient based on force and EMG feedback, will be assessed in a randomized, controlled clinical evaluation of the device at the Mayo Clinic. This evaluation would involve patients who have neurological hand impairments and would be designed to compare robotic assisted therapy against the best conventional care.