A new quantitative performance parameter for monitoring robotics rehabilitation treatment

Abstract

In clinical practice, the great potential of robots in extracting quantitative and meaningful data is not always exploited. The aim of the present paper is to propose a simple parameter that allows to follow the performance of subjects during upper limb robotic training with no additional effort for patients or clinicians. Armeo®Spring has been used to perform a training on 14 children affected by cerebral palsy (CP). Each session was evaluated with the new parameter allowing us to observe variations in subjects' performance over time. A preliminary validation of the parameter was performed by means of Melbourne clinical scale. Further studies are required to compare the results with kinematics data and other clinical scales.