A review : a comprehensive review of soft and rigid wearable rehabilitation and assistive devices with a focus on the shoulder joint

Majidi Fard Vatan, H; Nefti-Meziani, S; Davis, ST; Saffari, Z; El-Hussieny, H

Abstract

The importance of the human upper limb role in performing daily life and personal activities is significant. Improper functioning
of this organ due to neurological disorders or surgeries can greatly affect the daily activities performed by patients. This paper
aims to comprehensively review soft and rigid wearable robotic devices provided for rehabilitation and assistance focusing on the
shoulder joint. In the last two decades, many devices have been proposed in this regard, however, there have been a few groups
whose devices have had effective therapeutic capability with acceptable clinical evidence. Also, there were not many portable,
lightweight and user-friendly devices. Therefore, this comprehensive study could pave the way for achieving optimal future
devices, given the growing need for these devices. According to the results, the most commonly used plan was Exoskeleton, the
most commonly used actuators were electrical, and most devices were considered to be stationary and rigid. By doing these
studies, the advantages and disadvantages of each method are also presented. The presented devices each have a new idea and
attitude in a specific field to solve the problems of movement disorders and rehabilitation, which were in the form of prototypes,
initial clinical studies and sometimes comprehensive clinical and commercial studies. These plans need more comprehensive
clinical trials to become a complete and efficient plan. This article could be used by researchers to identify and evaluate the
important features and strengths and weaknesses of the plans to lead to the presentation of more optimal plans in the future.

Citation

Majidi Fard Vatan, H., Nefti-Meziani, S., Davis, S., Saffari, Z., & El-Hussieny, H. (2021). A review : a comprehensive review of soft and rigid wearable rehabilitation and assistive devices with a focus on the shoulder joint. Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems, 102(1), 9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10846-021-01353-x

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 22, 2021
• Publication Date: Apr 16, 2021
• Deposit Date: Apr 19, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 19, 2021
• Journal: Journal of Intelligent & Robotic Systems
• Print ISSN: 0921-0296
• Electronic ISSN: 1573-0409
• Publisher: Springer Verlag
• Volume: 102
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 9
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10846-021-01353-x
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10846-021-01353-x
• Related Public URLs: https://www.springer.com/journal/10846
• Additional Information: Projects : Future AI and Robotics Hub for Space (FAIR-SPACE)