Functional Design of a Powered Elbow Orthosis Toward its Clinical Employment

Abstract

This paper presents the design and preliminary evaluation of a novel version of the robotic elbow exoskeleton NEUROExos, designed for the in-clinic treatment of stroke survivors in acute and subacute phases. The robotic design implements a novel series elastic actuation system, a 4-degree-of-freedom (DoFs) passive mechanism for the anatomical axis alignment, and one active DoF with remote cable-driven actuation. The low-level control system allows two working modalities: a torque control and a joint position control. The high-level control system employs a finite-state machine that allows the setting and execution of these modalities during rehabilitation exercises. Preliminary pilot tests based on passive exercises, with three chronic post-stroke patients, demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed approach in assessing joint rigidity and its usability within a rehabilitation clinic.