Every year, 700,000 people in the United States are confronted
by new or recurrent strokes, and many have to relearn everyday
tasks.
Professors and students from the University of Texas at Austin
and Rice University are experimenting with assistive robotic
devices specially designed to help these patients and others, such
as those with spinal cord injuries, live more independently.
Although currently an assignment for engineering students, some of
the concepts may eventually be developed for the commercial
market.
The group has created a robot prototype that has two primary
functions: helping the patient complete a task and exercising while
doing so to improve muscle tone and reflexes. “If we can
design an exercise that has a productive outcome, it may be better
than walking on a treadmill,” says Lex Frieden, professor of
health informatics at the University of Texas Health Science Center
Houston and a leader of the design group.
“Most people in the home environment are not motivated to
engage in these kinds of exercises, so by having something
constructive to do in the process of exercise and rehabilitation,
motivation is increased significantly,” he continues.
“Clearly, self-improvement is a very important path of
healthy living, and engaging in exercise and rehab is
self-improvement.”
Prototypes are armed with a remote-controlled scissor-like claw
and are equipped with lifts designed to raise the grabber to the
height of a table. Users can increase the range of motion and
amount of exertion required to operate the claw, helping them build
endurance and complete harder tasks.
“We are essentially trying to provide opportunities to
encourage self-directed therapy at home, and at the same time,
provide resourceful immediate feedback, gratification and reward to
the person who is achieving progress in rehabilitating
themselves,” he says.
Building endurance and getting exercise is as important for
people with disabilities as it is for everyone else, an
often-forgotten fact according to Frieden. “If you have a
limited amount of function, you have the need to treat that limited
function with care and respect. And it's critical to have that
ability in the home.”
Frieden understands. He has been in a wheelchair since he broke
his neck in a car accident as a teenager. Now 60, he knows it's
frustrating to lose common abilities, but he says with technology
such as his power wheelchair, “I don't need to have personal
assistance 24 hours a day to maintain a high degree of
independence.”
Robotics is a clear path toward helping people who have acquired
disabilities as a result of accidents, Frieden says, adding the
need for independent care at home will increase because of the
aging population.
Easing challenge and upping motivation are the university
group's goals, says Frieden. “The most challenging things
about a disability are the things you can't do — and the best
ways around that are alternative solutions.”
