Recent Patents on Exoskeletal Rehabilitation Robot for Upper Limb

Background: With the increasing number of hemiplegic patients in recent years, traditional rehabilitation methods cannot meet the current social needs. In order to help patients recover as soon as possible, the combination of the human intelligence and the mechanical power device of the manmachine interface of the exoskeletal rehabilitation robot is becoming more and more popular. Objective: To provide an overview of recent exoskeletal rehabilitation robot for upper limb and introduce their respective characteristics and development. Methods: This paper reviews various representative patents related to the exoskeletal rehabilitation robot for upper limb. The structural characteristics and applications of the typical exoskeletal rehabilitation robots for upper limb are introduced. Results: Different types of exoskeletal rehabilitation robots for upper limb are enumerated, and different characteristics of them are analyzed. The existing problems of exoskeletal rehabilitation robots for upper limb are summarized, and the current development including future of patents on exoskeletal rehabilitation robots for upper limb are discussed. Conclusion: The optimization of the structure and performance of the exoskeletal rehabilitation robots for upper limb greatly improves the efficiency of rehabilitation. For further development, more and more patents on exoskeletal rehabilitation robots for upper limb should be designed and invented.