DEVELOPMENT OF A ROBOTIC PLATFORM FOR ANKLE JOINT REHABILITATION

Abstract

The ankle structure holds one of the most important role in the human biomechanics. Due to complexity of everyday activities this joint is the most prone to be injured part of the lower limb. This fact motivated the designing of a rehabilitation robotic system, which could be able of helping/assisting the physiotherapist, in order to obtain an efficient recovery process. A novel ankle rehabilitation device was developed, allowing progress monitoring by therapists. Some structural, kinematic and designing aspects regarding this rehabilitation system are discussed in this paper. Also, preliminary experimental results and evaluation of first patient are presented. Future trials are required to establish the maximum clinical efficiency of this platform in ankle joint rehabilitation.