Clinical applications of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) in stroke rehabilitation provide both therapeutic and functional benefits. Therapeutic applications include upper and lower limb motor relearning and reduction of poststroke shoulder pain. There is growing evidence that NMES, especially those approaches that incorporate task-specific strategies, is effective in facilitating upper and lower limb motor relearning. There is also strong evidence that NMES reduces poststroke shoulder subluxation and pain. Functional applications include upper and lower limb neuroprostheses. Lower limb neuroprostheses in the form of peroneal nerve stimulators is effective in enhancing the gait speed of stroke survivors with foot-drop. The development of hand neuroprostheses is in its infancy and must await additional fundamental and technical advances before reaching clinical viabi-lity. The limitations of available systems and future developments are discussed.

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Powered orthosis is a special class of gait assist device that employs a mechanical or electromechanical actuator to enhance movement of hip, knee, or ankle articulations. Pneu-matic artificial muscle (PAM) has been suggested as a pneumatic actuator because its performance is simi-lar to biological muscle.The electromyography (EMG) signal interpretation is the most popular and simplest method to establish the patient voluntary control of the orthosis.However, this technique is not suitable for patients presenting neurological lesions causing absence or very low quality of EMG signal. For those cases, an alternative control strategy should be provided.The aim of the present study is to develop a gait assistance orthosis for lower limb powered by PAMs controlled by a voluntary activation method based on the angular behavior of hip joint. In the present study, an orthosis that has been molded in a patient was employed and, by taking her anthropometric parameters and movement constraints, the adaptation of the existing orthosis to the powered orthosis was planned.A control system was devised allowing voluntary cont-rol of a powered orthosis suitable for patients presenting neurological lesions causing absence or very low quality of EMG signal.A pilot clinical study was reported where a patient, victim of poliovirus, suc-cessfully tested a hip orthosis especially modified for the gait test evaluation in the parallel bar sys-tem. The hip orthosis design and the control circuitry parameters were able to be set to provide satisfactory and comfortable use of the orthosis during the gait cycle.

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This paper presents ABLE, an innovative exoskeleton for the upper limb currently under development at CEA-LIST Interactive Robotics Unit. Its distinctive high performance mechanical transmissions – screw and cable patented arrangement – and its integrated architecture makes it the very first of its category. Back-drivable, high efficiency, low inertia actuators provide a high capacity (around 50 N continuous effort at the hand) and hybrid force-position control capability without force sensor. ABLE 4D is currently used in a research project dedicated to rehabilitation (BRAHMA). Only the 4 axis model is described in this paper but a 7 axis version is already planned for 2009. Thanks to the performances obtained with ABLE 4D we are planning to use ABLE 7D for assistance for disabled persons as well as for intuitive teleoperation and haptic applications (VR). Thanks to its particularly simple design industrial versions are foreseen in a near future.

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El hombre siempre se ha sentido atraído por la idea de diseñar máquinas semejantes a si mismo. Estos robots humanoides podrían servir para sustituirnos en tareas molestas o peligrosas, para el cuidado de personas con discapacidad, o simplemente como medios de entre-tenimiento. Así, durante casi cuarenta años han ido apare-ciendo un gran número de robots humanoides. Estos prototipos estaban con-trolados como los manipuladores industriales, siguiendo unas trayectorias predefinidas garantizando la estabilidad local. Mientras los robots basados en esta aproximación lograban resultados espectaculares, aparecieron unas máquinas capaces de descender una pendiente sin actuación ni control, y con un movimiento casi humano, los robots dinámicos pasivos. Estas máquinas andantes inspi-raron el diseño de robots, que confiando en su cinemática y dinámica intrínsecamente inestables, caminan forma veloz y eficiente. Son los llamados robots de Ciclo Límite. En el presente trabajo se revisan los pasos que se han dado para desarrollar este concep-to, recorriendo las principales ideas y el estado del arte. Después se presenta al bípedo ESBiRRo, el robot de Ciclo Límite con mayor similaritud con el hombre hasta la fecha. Con él, se intentará reproducir la capacidad del ser humano para andar en circun-stancias adversas: caminar sobre terreno irregular, tropezar con obstáculos, sufrir empujones, etcétera. Por último, y tras descri-bir tanto el diseño como el control de ESBiRRo, los autores presentan una reflexión sobre cuál puede ser el camino a tomar por la robótica humanoide para hacer su sueño realidad.

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This book is the result of several years of research and work by the Bioengineering Group (CSIC) on the use of Robotics to assist handicapped people. The aim of the book is to provide a comprehensive discussion of the field of Wearable Robotics. Rehabilitation, Assistance and Functional Compensation are not the only fields of application for Wearable Robotics, but they may be regarded as paradigmatic scenarios for robots of this kind. The book covers most of the scientific topics relating to Wearable Robotics, with particular focus on bioinspiration, biomechatronic design, cognitive and physical human–robot interaction, wearable robot technologies (including communication networks), kinematics, dynamics and control. The book was enriched by the contribution of outstanding scientists and experts in the different topics addressed here. I would like to thank them all.

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