Rehabotics: A Comprehensive Rehabilitation Platform for Post-Stroke Spasticity, Incorporating a Soft Glove, a Robotic Exoskeleton Hand and Augmented Reality Serious Games

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 Rehabotics: A Comprehensive Rehabilitation Platform for Post-Stroke Spasticity, Incorporating a Soft Glove, a Robotic Exoskeleton Hand and Augmented Reality Serious Games

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Biomedical Engineering Laboratory, National Technical University of Athens, 9, Herοon Polytechniou Str., Zografou, 15773 Athens, Greece

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Biomechanics Laboratory, Physiotherapy Department, University of the Peloponnese, 23100 Sparta, Greece

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Physioloft, Physiotherapy Center, 14562 Kifisia, Greece

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CNA Lab, Department of Informatics, Telecommunications University of Peloponnese, 22100 Tripoli, Greece

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Unit of Medical Technology and Intelligent Information Systems, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece

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Biomedical Research Institute, Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH), 70013 Heraklion, Greece

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Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

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Presented at the Advances in Biomedical Sciences, Engineering and Technology (ABSET) Conference, Athens, Greece, 10–11 June 2023.

Eng. Proc. 2023, 50(1), 2; https://doi.org/10.3390/engproc2023050002

Published: 27 October 2023

(This article belongs to the Proceedings of Advances in Biomedical Sciences, Engineering and Technology (ABSET) Conference)

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Abstract

Spasticity following a stroke often leads to severe motor impairments, necessitating comprehensive and personalized rehabilitation protocols. This paper presents Rehabotics, an innovative rehabilitation platform incorporating a multi-component design for the rehabilitation of patients with post-stroke spasticity in the upper limbs. This system incorporates a sensor-equipped soft glove, a robotic exoskeleton hand, and an augmented reality (AR) platform with serious games of varying difficulties for adaptive therapy personalization. The soft glove collects data regarding hand movements and force exertion levels when the patient touches an object. In conjunction with a web camera, this enables real-time physical therapy using AR serious games, thus targeting specific motor skills. The exoskeleton hand, facilitated by servomotors, assists patients in hand movements, specifically aiding in overcoming the challenge of hand opening. The proposed system utilizes the data collected and (in combination with the clinical measurements) provides personalized and refined rehabilitation plans and targeted therapy to the affected hand. A pilot study of Rehabotics was conducted with a sample of 14 stroke patients. This novel system promises to enhance patient engagement and outcomes in post-stroke spasticity rehabilitation by providing a personalized, adaptive, and engaging therapy experience.