AI Article Synopsis
- Soft robotics is being explored for rehabilitation, offering potential benefits for individuals recovering upper limb motor function after injuries, with an emphasis on increased safety and comfort compared to traditional rigid robotics.
- The article reviews clinical evidence from 37 studies on 13 different soft upper limb devices used in both clinical and home environments, assessing their effectiveness and user experience.
- It aims to guide future developments in soft robotic rehabilitation by providing recommendations for design and application, highlighting the importance of understanding user needs and clinical outcomes.
Article Abstract
Soft robotics is gaining interest in rehabilitation applications, bringing new opportunities to offset the loss of upper limb motor function following neurological, neuromuscular, or traumatic injuries. Unlike conventional rigid robotics, the added softness in linkages or joints promises to make rehabilitation robots compliant, which translates into higher levels of safety, comfort, usability, and portability, opening the door for these rehabilitation technologies to be used in daily life. While several reviews documented the different technical implementations of soft rehabilitation robots, it is essential to discuss the growing clinical evidence on the feasibility and effectiveness of using this technology for rehabilitative and assistive purposes, whether softness brings the expected advantages from the perspective of end users, and how we should proceed in the future of this field. In this perspective article, we present recent clinical evidence on how 13 different upper limb devices were used in both controlled (clinical) and uncontrolled (at home) settings in more than 37 clinical studies. From these findings and our own experience, we derive recommendations for future developers and end users regarding the design, application, and evaluation of soft robotics for upper limb rehabilitation and assistance.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/soro.2024.0034 | DOI Listing |
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