A methodology to quantify alterations in human upper limb movement during co-manipulation with an exoskeleton

IEEE Trans Neural Syst Rehabil Eng. 2010 Aug;18(4):389-97. doi: 10.1109/TNSRE.2010.2056388. Epub 2010 Jul 19.

Abstract

While a large number of robotic exoskeletons have been designed by research teams for rehabilitation, it remains rather difficult to analyse their ability to finely interact with a human limb: no performance indicators or general methodology to characterize this capacity really exist. This is particularly regretful at a time when robotics are becoming a recognized rehabilitation method and when complex problems such as 3-D movement rehabilitation and joint rotation coordination are being addressed. The aim of this paper is to propose a general methodology to evaluate, through a reduced set of simple indicators, the ability of an exoskeleton to interact finely and in a controlled way with a human. The method involves measurement and recording of positions and forces during 3-D point to point tasks. It is applied to a 4 degrees-of-freedom limb exoskeleton by way of example.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Biomechanical Phenomena
  • Engineering
  • Hand Strength / physiology
  • Humans
  • Joints / physiology
  • Movement / physiology*
  • Muscle Contraction / physiology
  • Muscle, Skeletal / physiology
  • Paresis / rehabilitation
  • Rehabilitation / instrumentation*
  • Robotics*
  • Rotation
  • Stroke Rehabilitation
  • Upper Extremity / physiology*