What's new in new technologies for upper extremity rehabilitation?

The field of new technologies for upper-limb rehabilitation is exploding. The review presents new trends and studies of effectiveness from recent literature regarding robots, virtual reality and telerehabilitation for neurorehabilitation of the upper limb.

There appears to be a greater focus on technological developments than on clinical trials or studies to evaluate the mechanisms behind the effectiveness of these systems. Developments are most abundant in the field of robotics. However, the first well designed and powered randomized-controlled trial on robot rehabilitation has appeared, confirming that the effectiveness of robot therapy lies in the number of repetitions provided. There is a move towards studies in populations other than stroke, particularly cerebral palsy with a few studies on multiple sclerosis and traumatic brain injury. There is also an increasing trend for the use of robotic devices as evaluation tools.

Despite the fact that new technologies are based on knowledge from motor control and learning literature and that they provide an exciting potential for varied rehabilitation, recent evidence suggests that the only contribution to clinical practice currently is the provision of intensive, repetitive movements.