Review of Models and Robotic Devices for Stroke Survivors’ Upper Extremity Rehabilitation

Stroke is one of the leading causes of upper extremity disability around the world. Whenever a stroke happens stroke survivor’s brain commands cannot reach some muscles of upper extremities although those muscles could contract. Therefore, shoulder, elbow or wrist joint cannot perform expected motion, and this will hamper their activities of daily living (ADLs). The objective of rehabilitation is to externally drive the upper extremity move to improve muscle movements. The current state of upper extremity rehabilitation may improve by using a model-based computer simulation of arm movement for personalizing robotic devices and interventions. This study attempts to review technologies used in upper extremity rehabilitation on two aspects: computer models and robotic devices. A summary of existing virtual upper extremity models is provided. As well, different robotic devices that are developed for upper limb rehabilitation is also discussed here.