Joint project InRehaRob

 

Individualized rehabilitation therapy through self-adapting robotic assistance.

 

Motivation

Due to the irreversible damage to their motor control system, stroke patients are often no longer able to perform even simple everyday movements. In addition, the motor skills of patients fluctuate greatly and change spontaneously due to external stimuli - even during physio-therapeutic movement exercises. For this reason, movement therapy must quickly adapt to the patient's acute condition at any given time.

 

Project Goals and Methods

The aim of the InRehaRob project is to create a self-adapting, robotic assistance system that enables patients to practice movements independently at any time, individually adapted to their acute needs, and thus leads to an increase in the efficiency and continuity of therapy after a stroke. Within the scope of the project, an innovative robot concept based on the KUKA LBR iiwa lightweight robot is being developed, which enables dynamic adaptability to individual patient needs through free adjustability of the support forces and compliance, as well as simple exercise configuration through human guidance of the robot. In addition, a control system is designed to allow self-adaptation of the system to individual patient needs.

 

Innovations and Perspectives

The concept developed within the framework of the project enables the flexible use of the robot in the execution of physiotherapeutic movement exercises, which is equivalent to the use of a human being, in particular the physiotherapist. In addition, the increasing number of stroke cases and the high demand for therapy are already causing a shortage of personnel and time for patients, so that the robotic assistance system can be expected not only to improve therapy, but also to relieve the burden on the healthcare system.

 

Project partner
DIERS International GmbH KUKA Roboter GmbH Evosense Research & Development GmbH Dr. Becker Klinikgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG RWTH Aachen University, AME - Institute of Applied Medical Engineering, Teaching and research area: RPE – Rehabilitation and Prevention Engineering