Passive robotic movement therapy of the spastic hemiparetic arm with REHAROB: report of the first clinical test and the follow-up system improvement

An investigation into the use of standardized, unmodified, industrial, robots for motion therapy of hemiparetic extremities was initiated in 2000. A system called REHAROB, designed and built over a three year period, was completed for this clinical trial in 2003. The results confirmed that therapy using this system was safe and thus performed as intended. In 2004, following this trial, the programming interface and the interface device between the patient and the robots were improved. A controlled clinical study is currently under way to assess the clinical efficiency of the REHAROB movement therapy. This paper describes the results of the first clinical trial with the REHAROB therapeutic system, and also reports why and how the system was improved for the second clinical trial.