Exoskeleton to Rehabilitate Paralyzed Arm Based on Patient Healthy Arm Guidance

Abstract

In this paper we discuss the stroke rehabilitation by robotic device and a novel exoskeleton, which is based on the patient's self-guided control will be presented. It is realized by moving the patient's own healthy arm in order to provide the movement trajectories for the exoskeleton. The main advantage of the exoskeleton is its flexibility and adaptivity for individual patient's rehabilitation training. A new model predictive control (MPC) algorithm for handling coupling and nonlinearity is also proposed and a microprocessor-based drive system for the exoskeleton will be adopted. In addition, to measure the angular positions corresponding to the joint angles of arm high resolution potentiometers are used.