Design of a robotic sensorimotor system for Phantom Limb Pain rehabilitation

Abstract

The use of robotics in rehabilitation has shown to have a positive outcome when applied to stroke patients and other movement based therapies. Despite recent studies looking at these types of therapies in helping patients with Phantom Limb Pain very few have looked at employing the elements that make robotics successful with stroke patients towards amputees. Phantom Limb Pain affects the majority of amputees, resulting in the need for further study due to the vast range of potential treatments available. This paper examines the effects of Phantom Limb Pain, its treatment, paradigms based on robotic rehabilitation, and provides an outline of a possible therapy method based on an immersive system providing proprioceptive and kinaesthetic feedback to the user while performing a manipulation task.