Virtual reality and a haptic master-slave set-up in post-stroke upper-limb rehabilitation.

Since the number of stroke patients is ever growing, and since studies show that the patients can benefit from more exercise, the possible use of virtual reality and haptic devices in the rehabilitation of stroke patients is researched. Besides offering more independent and challenging exercise possibilities, the inherent registration capabilities of the haptic devices open up the possibility of monitoring patients' motions in an objective way. This research results in the implementation of a VR mock-up of an exercise in which patients use both hands and a stick to push away a ball that is tossed at them.