SBIR-STTR Award

The Phase I effort of this research is to develop a robotic bi-manual therapy machine for use in stroke rehabilitation that will augment the clinical rehabilitation provided by a physical therapist, provide better quantititative data to support rehabilitation decisions and progress review, and to ultimately result in substantial improvements in the speed and quality of recovery from impairments caused by stroke. Current practice in stroke rehabilitation relies almost exclusively on subjective measurements by the physical therapist and the extent to which the ability to perform activities of daily living is recovered. It is expected that the availability of a computer-controlled robotic bi-manual therapy machine will provide revolutionary opportunities for uncovering more fully the nature of stroke and the exploration of new therapies. The desired outcome of the Phase I research effort will be a virtual prototype of a pre- commercial model. This virtual prototype will be evaluated using a six degree of freedom goniometer, and the final model will form the basis of the prototype construction in Phase II. A single degree of freedom bi- manual test bed will be developed and used to evaluate force control algorithms to be implemented in the prototype. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS: The commercial applications of this project are the manufacture and distribution of a robotic therapy machine providing clinical rehabilitation of stroke impairment, which is enhanced by computerized assessment and automated routines for remote or networked therapy. This methodology would lead to a more cost effective therapy that could be developed for other forms of rehabilitation therapy.

Thesaurus Terms:
biomedical equipment development, computer assisted patient care, limb movement, rehabilitation, robotics, stroke, telemedicine computer simulation, computer system design /evaluation, physical therapy human subject, medical rehabilitation related tag

The Phase II effort is the continuation of the development of a robotic bi-manual therapy machine for use in stroke rehabilitation. The robotic therapy device proposed here, called ARCHIME for the purposes of this proposal, has the potential to improve rehabilitation outcomes significantly for individuals who have upper limb impairments due to stroke. Demographic trends indicate a significant increase in the already large population of individuals who have experienced a stroke. The resulting loss of upper limb motor function is often resistant to therapeutic efforts. With the dramatic reduction of inpatient rehabilitation length of stay following. stroke, it is now critical to develop efficient, scientifically-validated interventions. The combination of demographic trends and healthcare cost containment pressures, and limitations in current clinical practice provide convincing evidence to support the potential for ARCMIME to become a commercially successful product. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: The commercial applications of this project are the manufacture and distribution of a robotic therapy machine providing clinical rehabilitation of a stroke impairment, which is enchanced by computerized assessment and automated routines for remote or networked therapy. This methodology would lead to a more cost effective therapy that could be developed for other forms of rehabilitation therapy.

Thesaurus Terms:
biomechanics, biomedical equipment development, computer assisted patient care, limb movement, rehabilitation, robotics, stroke, telemedicine computer simulation, computer system design /evaluation, physical therapy, stroke therapy clinical research, human subject, medical rehabilitation related ta