Introduction to robotics for gait assistance and rehabilitation

Abstract

In recent years, society has been growing and aging at accelerated rates. Consequently, it has been of great interest to develop rehabilitation and gait assistance solutions by medical and engineering professionals. Moreover, worldwide statistics report high incidence indicators of neurological and physical impairments, being a public health concern in several countries. In this sense, there are four types of assistive technologies that can be found in the field of rehabilitation engineering, focusing on human mobility: (1) wearable robots, (2) mobile robots, (3) social robots, and (4) combined platforms. Depending on the requirements of each user, these robotic devices aim to compensate, retrain, or provide the affected locomotion capabilities of the individual. This chapter defines these devices and describes their implementation in the context of gait assistance and rehabilitation. Similarly, it provides some evidence of applications in clinical scenarios.