https://jneuroengrehab.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12984-017-0273-7
- Camila Shirota,
- Edwin van Asseldonk,
- Zlatko Matjačić,
- Heike Vallery,
- Pierre Barralon,
- Serena Maggioni,
- Jaap H. Buurke and
- Jan F. VenemanEmail author
Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation201714:80
© The Author(s). 2017
Received: 22 June 2016
Accepted: 8 June 2017
Published: 14 August 2017
Abstract
Clinically
useful and efficient assessment of balance during standing and walking
is especially challenging in patients with neurological disorders.
However, rehabilitation robots could facilitate assessment procedures
and improve their clinical value. We present a short overview of balance
assessment in clinical practice and in posturography. Based on this
overview, we evaluate the potential use of robotic tools for such
assessment. The novelty and assumed main benefits of using robots for
assessment are their ability to assess ‘severely affected’ patients by
providing assistance-as-needed, as well as to provide consistent
perturbations during standing and walking while measuring the patient’s
reactions. We provide a classification of robotic devices on three
aspects relevant to their potential application for balance assessment:
1) how the device interacts with the body, 2) in what sense the device
is mobile, and 3) on what surface the person stands or walks when using
the device. As examples, nine types of robotic devices are described,
classified and evaluated for their suitability for balance assessment.
Two example cases of robotic assessments based on perturbations during
walking are presented. We conclude that robotic devices are promising
and can become useful and relevant tools for assessment of balance in
patients with neurological disorders, both in research and in clinical
use. Robotic assessment holds the promise to provide increasingly
detailed assessment that allows to individually tailor rehabilitation
training, which may eventually improve training effectiveness.
No comments:
Post a Comment