Rehabilitatio 53 . Rehabilitation and Health Care Robotics

The field of rehabilitation robotics develops robotic systems that assist persons who have a disability with necessary activities, or that provide therapy for persons seeking to improve physical or cognitive function. This chapter will discuss both of these domains and provide descriptions of the major achievements of the field over its short history. Specifically, after providing background information on world demographics (Sect. 53.1.2) and the history (Sect. 53.1.3) of the field, Sect. 53.2 describes physical therapy and training robots, and Sect. 53.3 describes robotic aids for people with disabilities. Section 53.4 then briefly discusses recent advances in smart prostheses and orthoses that are related to rehabilitation robotics. Finally, Sect. 53.5 provides an overview of recent work in diagnosis and monitoring for rehabilitation as well as other health-care issues. At the conclusion of this chapter, the reader will be familiar with the history of rehabilitation robotics and its primary accomplishments, and will understand the challenges the field faces in the future as it seeks to improve health care and the well-being of persons with disabilities. In this chapter, we will describe an application of robotics that may in the future touch many of us in an acutely personal way.