Robotic Upper Limb Rehabilitation Intervention with Feedback of Motor Function Scores to Improve Motivation

Upper limb movements are indispensable for daily activities. Because of their complexity, the development of rehabilitation exercises using robot and haptic technologies paired with medical treatment is useful for the recovery and maintenance of stroke survivors. The "SEMUL" is a 2-DOF passive haptic system for upper-limb rehabilitation, developed to facilitate dexterity training during reaching exercises. The system provides objective and quantitative evaluation of performance and is entertaining to use, particularly when using the coin collecting software. Past studies have revealed the potential for conducting standardized evaluations using this software. In this study, we assessed trainees' concentration during training as an index of their level of entertainment and engagement with the program. The trainees were able-bodied older persons. The training scores were fed back to the trainees, but the scores were inflated from the mid-point of the training without notifying them, to stimulate their motivation to achieve higher scores. Electroencephalogram results confirmed that the subjects maintained their concentration during the tests.