Development of a Lower Limb Stroke Rehabilitation Machine

TheVibrationLab, School of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 14300 Nibong Tebal, SPS, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia.

^* Email: mezaidi@usm.my Phone: +6045996368; Fax: +6045996912

Abstract

This paper explains the development of a lower limb stroke rehabilitation machine designed for subacute stroke patients. the system is capable of measuring the muscle force and providing goal-oriented feedback in real-time and running in two different rehabilitation modes. the mean value of engagement metric of healthy subjects using this machine with feedback was 24.53% higher than without feedback. This proved that feedback can help the patients to be fully engaged during the rehab session and this can be useful in strengthening the neuromotor pathways. the brain recovery based on the motor cortex correlation quantification algorithm based on the electroencephalography (EEG) signals which is validated against the established technique based on the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). From the results, the resting-state EEG beta coherence of healthy subjects was found to be 0.474±0.06, whereas the average fMRI functional connectivity between left and right primary motor areas of healthy subjects was 0.537±0.08. the percentage difference was only 11.7%. clinical trial will be carried out to further measure the efficacy of the rehabilitation treatment using this system.