STATE OF THE ART AND EFFICIENCY OF ROBOTIC THERAPY IN UPPER LIMB REHABILITATION – A LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

Stroke represents the main cause of disability in adults. The disability is caused by motor or sensitive impairment, loss of interjoint coordination, spasticity and pathological synergies that occur after stroke. The new directions in motor rehabilitation point at facilitating neuroplasticity by multimodal stimulation, like virtual reality, or by active assistance in task specific training, like rehabilitation robots associated or not with functional electrical stimulation (FES). The aim of this article is, on one hand, to analyze the way in which the existing robots face the biomechanical challenges of modeling the upper limb`s movements and, on the other hand, to evaluate the efficiency of robotics in rehabilitation, by pointing out the results of the existing clinical trials. Finally, possible directions for future research are discussed.