Rehabilitation robot with a new diagnostic and control protocol

Using a connected robot for wrist and forearm rehabilitation, a new rehabilitation system is developed. Forearm and wrist biomechanics are studied as part of a rehabilitation protocol. An integrated wrist-forearm joint mathematical model is developed and integrated into the main controller. The proposed new rehabilitation protocol is composed of three main sessions: the first is dedicated to the extraction of the passive components of the dynamic model of the wrist-forearm biomechanics while the active components are extracted in the second session. The third session consists of performing the continuous exercises using the determined dynamic model of the forearm-wrist joints taking into account the torque due to muscle fatigue. In addition to determining the wrist condition and capturing the torque produced by the robot and that provided by the patient, this protocol aims to identify the level of fatigue faced by the wrist. An EMG signal is used to estimate muscle fatigue using a fuzzy classifier designed and implemented for this purpose. The results show that the rehabilitation system developed allows a good progression of the articular amplitudes as well as the resistive-active couple.