Cable-Driven Robot for Upper and Lower Limbs Rehabilitation

The science of rehabilitation shows that repeated movements of human limbs can help the patient regain function in the injured limb. There are three types of mechanical systems used for movement rehabilitation: robots, cable-driven manipulators, and exoskeletons. Industrial robots can be used because they provide a three-dimensional workspace with a wide range of flexibility to execute different trajectories, which are useful for motion rehabilitation. The cable-driven manipulators consist of a movable platform and a base, which are connected by multiple cables that can extend or retract. The exoskeleton is fixed around the patient’s limb to provide the physiotherapy movements. This chapter presents the upper and lower human limbs movements, a review of several mechanical systems used for rehabilitation of upper and lower limbs, as well as the mathematical model of cable-driven manipulators. The experimental tests of the cable-driven manipulator for upper and lower limb rehabilitation movements are presented showing the viability of the proposed structure. Finally, this chapter presents the future research directions in rehabilitation robots.