Rehabilitation of Musculoskeletal Injuries Using the Rutgers Ankle Haptic Interface: Three Case Reports

The efficacy of virtual reality-based rehabilitation for orthopedic patients needs to be determined. This paper presents three case studies in which the use of the Rutgers Ankle haptic interface for ankle rehabilitation is evaluated. The Rutgers Ankle is a computer-controlled compact robotic platform that measures foot position and orientation and provides resistive forces and torques, It has been integrated with a PC running an airplane piloting VR exercise and a custom electronic control box. The system underwent pilot clinical trials in an outpatient clinic in the State of New Jersey (USA). The goals of the pilot tests were to determine how well the current design of the interface worked in a clinical setting and to provide preliminary evidence of efficacy (whether patients benefited from incorporating the RA into their rehabilitation program). Results on three patients participating in the study showed improvements in range of motion, torque generation capacity and ankle mechanical work over six rehabilitation sessions. Objective measures obtained by the Rutgers Ankle show improvement in task accuracy to 100% for Case 1, a five-fold increase in ankle power output for Case 2, and a three-fold increase for Case 3. Both Case 2 and Case 3 reached 100% task accuracy by the end of the two-week rehabilitation training. Results from these case studies are being used in software enhancements and construction of a dual-platform system.