Home-use upper limb rehabilitation device for cervical spinal cord injured patients

Abstract

This paper presents mechatronics device system to assess and assist the rehabilitation of the palsy arm. The device is developed for assisting the physical and occupational treatment of the patient with cervical spinal cord injury. The system consists of a PC and a joystick-type controller. The controller contains a triaxial load cell to measure the force exerted. With this system, we propose isometric training with biofeedback of visual effects as in video games. The subject is to adjust the force while tracking the target along the trajectory displayed on the screen. For evaluating the performance, accuracy is computed from the recorded training results. Pilot test is carried out on cervical spinal cord injured patients and compared with the senior able-bodied. Results of the pilot test showed that the system is capable of assessing the difference of the individuals. © Springer-Verlag 2004.