Thank You, Mr. Roboto

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.”