Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Degree

Master of Science

Program

Biomedical Engineering

Supervisor

Patel, Rajni

2nd Supervisor

Talebi, Heidar A.

Co-Supervisor

Abstract

Stroke is the primary cause of permanent disabilities worldwide. Hemiparesis and hemiplegia (the most common consequences of stroke) are the decreases in motor-functionality of the brain on one side of the body which will affect the daily life activities of the patient. There are several challenges with the current state of delivering rehabilitation services such as limitations on the number of the clinics, financial resources needed for providing rehabilitation, associated costs of transportation, and human resources. To overcome the issues related to conventional ways of delivering therapy, different robotic systems have been developed to benefit healthcare systems and patient with disabilities. Although various devices have been developed for rehabilitation on either upper or lower extremity, there is no robotic system in the market for physical rehabilitation on both upper and lower limbs. Developing such devices is useful particularly in the case of hemiparesis as the rehabilitation process can be performed on both upper and lower limbs using the same device. This thesis represents the design process, manufacturing, and control of a novel robotic rehabilitation device for delivering post-stroke therapy on both lower and upper extremities. This portable, lightweight, inherently safe robot has five degrees of freedom, and its mechanical characteristics are modifiable to suit different modes of therapy. An ethics application was submitted and approved by the Western University Ethics Board to validate the functionality of the device by performing experiments on healthy participants. The proposed robot has been manufactured, verified through the experimental tests and been tested on the healthy subjects.

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