STTR Phase I: In-Home Rehabilitation System for Post Stroke Patients

This Small Business Technolongy Transfer (STTR) Phase I research develops an in-home training device that allows a post-stroke patient to undergo rehabilitation with little or no assistance. Approximately 500,000 Americans survive a stroke each year. Miraculously, most stroke survivors can relearn skills such as walking that are lost when part of the brain is damaged. They can relearn walking most effectively if they are aided in making the correct motions by a machine or a physical therapist while part of their body weight is supported. This training is expensive and requires the patient to go for regular visits to a stroke center. Utilizing recent breakthroughs in the design of human exoskeletons, this research will create a lightweight robotic exoskeleton which cradles a patient's lower extremities and torso, and maneuvers their paralyzed limbs for them. Using this completely portable device, the patient will not have to go to a rehabilitation facility for daily therapy sessions. The patient can relearn ambulation in the privacy of his/her home with some help from his/her spouse, children, or friends. This device would allow the patient to walk, maneuver and have a more enjoyable, longer duration rehabilitation experience. Ultimately, creating such a device will also give clinicians an alternative to the wheel chair for patients who have more permanent problems, but would benefit enormously from functioning upright and with significant load on their bone structure. The broader impact of this project will be to adddress the needs of millions of people affected by stroke, muscular dystrophy, trauma, neurological disorders or even chronic arthritis, the medical and sociological implications to improve their quality of life and health.