ROBOTICS FOR REHABILITATION THERAPY

该子项目是利用 由NIH/NCRR资助的中心赠款提供的资源。子项目和 研究者（PI）可能从另一个NIH来源获得主要资金， 因此可以在其他CRISP条目中表示。列出的机构是 中心，不一定是研究者的机构。 该项目的总体目标是开发一种上肢机器人训练系统，供中风患者在诊所或家中练习手臂和手部运动。 本研究的目标是进行初步测试的机器人矫形器，将协助，扰动，并测量自然手臂运动的训练系统的一部分。 本研究将在受保护的UCI环境中测试机器人矫形器。 该矫形器是威尔明顿机器人外骨骼（WREX）的改良版，WREX是一种被动反重力外骨骼，使用橡皮筋使手臂感觉失重（图1）。 WREX最初是由Tariq Rahman博士（Rahman et al. 1995）设计的，用作肌肉萎缩症儿童的辅助设备。 身体虚弱无法对抗重力移动手臂的儿童可以自行进食和投球，例如，将手臂放在矫形器上。 之前，WREX设计已经被我们的实验室缩放，用作中风成年人使用的运动训练装置（称为“训练WREX”或“T-WREX”）。 本研究中使用的机器人矫形器是T-WREX的气动驱动版本，称为“Pneu-WREX”。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The overall goal of this project is to develop an upper extremity robotic training system for use by people with stroke to practice arm and hand movement in the clinic or at home. The goal of the present study is to perform preliminary tests on a robotic orthosis that will assist, perturb, and measure naturalistic arm motion as part of the training system. The present study will test the robotic orthosis in a protected UCI environment. The orthosis is a modified version of the Wilmington Robotic Exoskeleton (WREX), which is a passive antigravity exoskeleton that uses rubber bands to make the arm feel weightless (Figure 1). WREX was originally designed by Dr. Tariq Rahman (Rahman et al. 1995) for use as an assistive device for children with muscular dystrophy. Children who are too weak to move their arm against gravity can self-feed and throw a ball, for example, by placing their arm in the orthosis. Previously the WREX design has been scaled by our laboratory for use as a movement training device to be used by adults with stroke (named "Training WREX" or "T-WREX"). The robotic orthosis used in this study is a pneumatically actuated version of T-WREX, called "Pneu-WREX".