Abstract:
Stroke is one of the high prevalence diseases around the world. It causes various
disorders, but the motor impairments are the most frequent ones. The United States
have been found to report around 800k new patients, 600k new cases in Europe, while
in Pakistan 350k new patients are being reported annually. In most of these cases,
patient loss the movement control of leg, face or arm on either or both sides of the
body. In one of the impairments of stroke, the upper limb terminates the required motor
activity and the daily life chores of the patient get affected. In such cases of upper limb
impairments, medical professionals have prescribed the post-stroke rehabilitation
using active motor relearning and muscle treatments. In the 1960s, the post-stroke
rehabilitation treatments were provided by clinical therapists, but with the
advancement of the technological era, the post-stroke rehabilitation techniques are
shifting to automation. Low cost robotic manipulandum has been developed in this
work for upper limb rehabilitation. The robotic motion interventions in the motor activity
of stroke patient can help in actively relearning of given motor task. The requirements
of recurring, interactive, task specific and high intensity training to the patient can be
achieved by this device. It can also apply the required force to the paretic limb of the
patient so that they can practice multiple joints and the gross motor activity of the
upper limb. The assistive, active and passive roles of this robotic manipulandum along
with precisely controlled actuators can deliver effective therapy. Moreover, the system
can deliver the upper limb rehabilitation solutions for hemi or full paretic patients, and
can also be modified to track and record the improvements in the motor control of
patients after any other rehabilitation treatment or among the healthy population as
well.
