A primary goal of robotic rehabilitation is to provide repeatable, cost-effective therapy that is comparable to or better than conventional therapy. Lower-limb rehabilitation robots can be separated into robot-dominant devices, where the robot drives the motion of the human, and cooperative devices, where the robot and the human share control. Robot-dominant approaches have been shown to be les...

1 Human Engineering Research Laboratories, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA 15206, USA 2Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA 3Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61820, USA 4Amsterdam Rehabilitation Research Center, Reade, 1040 HG Amsterdam, Th...

The Smith machine (SM) (vertical motion of bar on fixed path; fixed-form exercise) and free weights (FWs) (free-form path) are commonly used strength training modes. Exercisers may need to alternate between types of equipment, depending on testing, training, rehabilitation, and/or the exercisers' goals. The purposes of this study were to compare muscle force production for SM and FWs using a 1 ...

Many stroke patients are expected to rehabilitate at home, which limits their access to proper rehabilitation equipment, treatment, or assessment by therapists. We have developed a novel telerehabilitation system that incorporates a human-upper-limb-like device and an exoskeleton device. The system is designed to provide the feeling of real therapist-patient contact via telerehabilitation. We a...

BACKGROUND Rehabilitation care is fundamental to health and human dignity and a human right enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The provision of rehabilitation is important for reducing the need for formal support and enabling persons with disabilities to lead an independent life. Increasingly scholars and advocacy groups voice concerns over th...

In recent years there has been an increase in the number of people requiring rehabilitation services. The genesis of rehabilitation services has been, in part, a response to the recognition that increasing the quality of life and independence of individuals following trauma, disease or enduring chronic pathology benefits society as a whole, as well as the individual. Human beings also have psyc...