Soft Robotic Exoskeleton for Stroke Rehabilitation: Design, Control, and Clinical Pilot Study
Liu, H., Wang, Q., Zhang, Y., Chen, X., Li, D.. Soft Robotic Exoskeleton for Stroke Rehabilitation: Design, Control, and Clinical Pilot Study. IJBE.
Vol.1, No.1. Mar 2025. https://doi.org/10.58922/ijbe.2025.0103
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Highlights
- Upper limb motor impairment affects 55-75% of stroke survivors, with traditional rehabilitation requiring intensive therapist involvement.
- We present a pneumatically-actuated soft exoskeleton for wrist and finger rehabilitation that provides assist-as-needed support guided by electromyographic intent detection.
- The control system uses a real-time EMG decoder trained on each patient's residual motor signals, enabling personalized therapy intensity adaptation.
Abstract
Upper limb motor impairment affects 55-75% of stroke survivors, with traditional rehabilitation requiring intensive therapist involvement. We present a pneumatically-actuated soft exoskeleton for wrist and finger rehabilitation that provides assist-as-needed support guided by electromyographic intent detection. The control system uses a real-time EMG decoder trained on each patient's residual motor signals, enabling personalized therapy intensity adaptation. A 12-week clinical pilot study (n=24, randomized controlled) demonstrates 38% greater improvement in Fugl-Meyer Assessment scores for the exoskeleton group versus conventional therapy (p=0.003), with high patient satisfaction (SUS score: 82/100) and no adverse events.