Humanoid Robot Integration in Rehabilitation of Musculoskeletal Conditions

Robots find numerous applications in medical/health domains and are extensively used in commercial as well as domestic applications to support daily life activities. Human robot (HR) has widened their wings to be used in rehabilitation applications. Interest in robots that provide health care is growing as one of the upcoming fields of next generation. In this study we investigated the Robot-patient performance in physical rehabilitation. A group of musculoskeletal patients diagnosed with pain in muscles or joints or both, aged 20 to 65 years was chosen for the study. The robot was programmed to instruct and guide the patients for physical rehabilitation activities for three trials of 30 minute sessions on different days. The sessions involved interaction with a humanoid robot. Robot was programmed for a set of active exercises with a classified sequences that are time and motion managed. Verbal communication between the robot and patients allowed for re-start, stop, resume and replay functions. The whole performance was filmed and reviewed from the perspectives of the impact on the patient as well as the performance of the robot. The whole process was validated by performing the same procedure on a trial basis with healthy individuals to ensure the setup is operated smoothly. The performance of each variable was evaluated in three successive sessions. Evaluated functions include clarity, therapy sequence, interaction, voice, timing, independency, operation, technical performance and degree of freedom. Results were computed as percentages by an external assessor. Results demonstrated dynamic learning in the 1st and 2nd sessions which showed a remarkable improvement in the 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th sessions. The overall average of the performance for the last 3 sessions was 91+%. Referring to this outcome, it could be concluded that the robot may have the potential to influence the physical therapy imitation. However,to establish the extent of this influence affirmatively, a bigger sample will be needed with a wider variety of patients.