A review on the application of intelligent control strategies for post-stroke hand rehabilitation machines

Abstract

Among the approaches to functional hand rehabilitation after stroke, the use of hand rehabilitation robots can provide functional training of the hand or assist the paralyzed hand in activities of daily living, and in particular, intelligent control strategies play a very important role in rehabilitation robotics. The purpose of this review is to summarize the current status of commercially available intelligently controlled hand rehabilitation robots developed in recent years. Firstly, we summarize the theoretical basis of post-stroke hand rehabilitation in the reviewed literature, and the intelligent control strategies of hand rehabilitation robots. Then, representative intelligently controlled hand rehabilitation robots are listed. Finally, we discuss the future directions of the intelligently controlled hand rehabilitation robots. The results show that the development trend in recent years is more inclined to: combining the theoretical basis of stroke hand rehabilitation and studying intelligent control methods of hand function rehabilitation robots that combine human bioelectrical signals to achieve prediction of patients’ motor intentions and also induced stimulation of neuroplasticity in the brain. As well as fusing different bioelectrical signals as a way to improve the applicability of the assistive device in real life. This paper will help researchers to understand the current state of the art regarding intelligently controlled hand rehabilitation robotics after stroke in recent years.