Transfer of scientific concepts to clinical practice: recent robot-assisted training studies

Restoration of motor function is a priority of post-stroke rehabilitation, the aim being to facilitate the patient's reintegration into society. Innovative technologies for neurological rehabilitation must be easy to use and offer patients real benefits, and the treatments they provide must be efficacious and efficient. All these aspects must be carefully evaluated in their development. To achieve restoration of motor function after stroke, task-specific repetitive robot-assisted training of the upper and the lower extremity is currently the most promising approach. The results of clinical trials of robotic devices for upper limb (MIT-Manus, MIME, NeReBot, BiManuTrack, ARMin, ARMOR) and lower limb (LokoHelp, GangTrainer GT1, Haptic Walker, G-EO-Systems, Lokomat) training are here presented with the aim of highlighting the possible gains in motor function due to robotic therapy. Patients who receive robot-assisted training in combination with physiotherapy after stroke are more likely to achieve better motor function than patients trained without these devices, or only with these devices.