A New Robotic System for Tracking Arm Use in Stroke Survivors
A team of researchers from the University of Southern California has developed a new robotic system to collect data on how stroke survivors use their arms in daily life. The method, published in the journal Science Robotics, uses a robotic arm to track 3D spatial information and machine learning techniques to analyze the data.
The study involved 14 participants who were right-hand dominant before the stroke. They used the robotic system to reach for a button in front of them with both their affected and unaffected arms. The results showed differences in arm use between participants, providing a metric for tracking stroke recovery.
Researchers hope that this technology could provide valuable information to rehabilitation therapists, allowing them to better tailor their interventions to address the patient’s areas of weakness and build upon areas of strength.
The new robotic system was rated as simple and safe to use, and participants found the interaction to be positive. The researchers also plan to explore personalization and other behavioral data in future studies.
This new robotic system offers the promise of providing a more accurate and motivating process for stroke patient assessment, ultimately leading to better and more targeted interventions to improve their quality of life.