TIBAR: Therapist Inspired Balance Assisting Robot

Abstract

Training intensity and training e ciency are important components when it comes to stroke rehabilitation. Patients bene t from a training environment where these components are taken into account by therapists. Due to limitations in the availability of physical therapists and the therewith entailed healthcare costs [ , ], these components could not always be optimally incorporated in the current rehabilitation process. Patients might therefore bene t from a safe and self-administered training device that allows for additional training hours to be made, yet does not ask for the direct presence of a therapist during the training. This thesis will describe the research that was performed in order to develop such a particular training device: TIBAR (Therapist Inspired Balance Assisting Robot). The training device speci cally provides balance assistance during gait training. It only provides support to patients, however, when they are not able to keep themselves balanced. When no support is needed, patients must be able to move freely. This introduction starts with a general description of stroke and current rehabilitation methods. It continues with future perspectives, such as a description of existing robotic gait training devices and the requirements that should be set to develop the TIBAR. Lastly, the objectives and outline of this thesis will be presented.