Robot Assisted Therapy

Robot-assisted therapy is being used more frequently in various aspects of therapy. Robot-assisted therapy is the use of robotic devices that have been tailored in assisting various specific sensorimotor functions. Robot-assisted therapy uses the various robotic equipment only for short amount of times during therapy sessions. The purpose of the robotics is not to replace what used to happen by muscle movement as assistive devices, but instead to help the person regain their independent movement without the use of the robotics (Mehrholz, Hädrich, Platz, Kugler & Pohl, 2012).

Robot-assisted therapy is used mostly with patients who have had a stroke that left them with partial, reduced or no arm function. It has been seen that after a stroke,

However, in the last few years robot-assisted therapy has been tailored to the rehabilitation of the wrist, hand and digits. There are robotics that support single joint movements to robotics that have as many as 18 degrees-of-freedom and can support the multijoint movements of the wrist and digits (Chang & Kim, 2013). Robot-assisted rehabilitation can create a therapeutic experience that is both high dosage and high intensity and is useful for patients with motor deficiencies caused by spinal cord issues or stroke. Robot-assisted therapy is a promising intervention for stroke rehabilitation; however, more research is needed to determine efficacy and how much therapy is needed to gain beneficial results (Hsieh et al.,

Hesse et al. (2005) came to the conclusion that in order to gain optimal results, the stroke patients with severe upper limb paresis should partake in thirty 20-minute therapy sessions using robot-assisted therapy to improve motor control and muscle strength. After these thirty 20-minute sessions, a greater functionality was seen leading to decreased limitations in activities of daily living. This study ultimately showed that while robot-assisted therapy led to improvements, the group receiving solely electrical stimulation to the affected arm did not show the same quality in improvements (Hesse et al., 2005). Hesse et al. (2005) was not the only study done that found duration of robotic-assisted therapy to be a determinant in improved outcomes. Lo et al. (2010) looked at those with long-term upper limb deficits from stroke and found that those that completed 12 weeks of robot-assisted therapy did not show any improvements in motor function of the affected arm. However, they found that if the client completed 36 weeks of robot-assisted therapy that they did in fact have improved motor function and better outcomes overall (Lo et al., 2010). Both of these studies showed that duration is an important aspect of determining success in robot-assisted