We're hoping to help stroke patients or
patients who have suffered from
neurological disorders. Robotics has
always been my passion. That's one side
but the other side is the impact that
this research or the research results
could have on people and could have on
society. Because of the higher purpose
that this project is surveying, the goal
that we have, to help people, got me very
interested because it's technical and it's
something that I really like to do and
it has meaning. So we have tried to
replicate what a therapist or an
occupational or physical therapist does
with the help of a robotic device. Just
literally help the person, the stroke
patient, achieve the goals and do the
practice that they cannot do
individually. When patients suffer from
neurological disorders or suffer from
stroke, they lose their ability to move.
In order for them to regain their lost
abilities they need to do repetitive
exercises. What we did later on was
talk to people: occupational therapists,
physical therapists, and really try to
get a sense of what is needed and what
stroke patients are going through and
how we can help them. The important thing
with the stroke recovery is that they
need to receive intense and long therapy
sessions. We're hoping that using robotic
devices can help them receive the
intense therapy that they should be
receiving. And so with using robotic
devices they can do these things many
many times and it can help them recover
faster.
