Low cost gymnasium for robotic rehabilitation of stroke survivors

Rehabilitation services are reduced in developing countries such as in Mexico. Intervention therapy is limited and many times not available to low income patients. Lack of technology in the rehabilitation areas in Mexico focuses therapies on manual exercises with one therapist giving treatment to one patient at a time, limiting the resources available. We present the development of a low cost Gymnasium for robotic rehabilitation (RoboRehab Gym). This gymnasium can improve functional abilities of stroke survivors using affordable, innovative robot/computer technologies requiring minimal supervision. The purpose of this study is to determine whether such low cost technology-based rehabilitation services in a community based health center in Mexico (CREE) can decrease motor impairment compared with typical manual based therapies.