Robotic Solutions in Pediatric Rehabilitation

This paper explores the design and development of a robotic boot for the use of physical therapy for children with spastic cerebral palsy. Spastic cerebral palsy is the most common form of cerebral palsy in which high muscle tone (tightness) constrains the motion of the patient, most noticeably in the gastronemus muscle of the leg causing the to walk on their toes. At present, the most common forms of therapy for this are stretching, the use of an ankle foot orthosis and botox injections paired with serial casting. This paper suggests the use of a robotic rehabilitative boot in place of the three other common therapeutic methods which all have downsides. The boot incorporates all of the therapy techniques while facilitating automatic progression to keep the patient moving forward. The boot has integrated actuators and feedback sensors which measure the foot angle pressure being exerted on the boot which allows the boot to determine whether the patient is sitting or standing and, in turn, decide the proper brace flexibility and applied angle of inclination for the foot. Force sensors are located on the ball of the foot to ensure that the muscle is being stretched, not torn, and to monitor the progression of the therapy. In order to provide versatility for each individual patient, a programmable controller is embedded in the device which is equip with serial casting and therapeutic stretching modes that the boot automatically applies after determining whether the patient is walking or sitting. The robotic boot for the use of spastic cerebral palsy rehabilitation provides a potential new means of therapy for younger patients who may not be able to effectively follow direct therapy instructions. While the idea of this device is still in the developmental stages, there is great hope for this device.

http://www.intechopen.com/articles/show/title/robotic_solutions_in_pediatric_rehabilitation