This article is part of a series on Trends on Robot-Assisted Therapy, edited by Michelle J Johnson.

Research

Socially assistive robotics for post-stroke rehabilitation

Maja J Matarić¹ , Jon Eriksson , David J Feil-Seifer¹ and Carolee J Winstein²

¹  Computer Science Department, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

²  Department of Neurology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

author email corresponding author email

Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation 2007, 4:5doi:10.1186/1743-0003-4-5

Published:	19 February 2007

Abstract

Background

Although there is a great deal of success in rehabilitative robotics applied to patient recovery post stroke, most of the research to date has dealt with providing physical assistance. However, new rehabilitation studies support the theory that not all therapy need be hands-on. We describe a new area, called socially assistive robotics, that focuses on non-contact patient/user assistance. We demonstrate the approach with an implemented and tested post-stroke recovery robot and discuss its potential for effectiveness.

Results

We describe a pilot study involving an autonomous assistive mobile robot that aids stroke patient rehabilitation by providing monitoring, encouragement, and reminders. The robot navigates autonomously, monitors the patient's arm activity, and helps the patient remember to follow a rehabilitation program. We also show preliminary results from a follow-up study that focused on the role of robot physical embodiment in a rehabilitation context.

Conclusion

We outline and discuss future experimental designs and factors toward the development of effective socially assistive post-stroke rehabilitation robots.