ROBOTIC SYSTEMS FOR LOWER-LIMB REHABILITATION AFTER STROKE: A TECHNICAL MECHATRONICS REVIEW

Nacarino A.; Borja J.; Sandoval C.; Martel C.; Cornejo J.; Murillo M.; Alata Rey J.; Palomares R. · Revista de la Facultad de Medicina Humana (2025) · DOI: 10.25176/rfmh.v25i4.7837

Resumen

Introduction: Stroke is the second leading cause of death and the third leading cause of disability worldwide, with an incidence increase of over 70% between 1990 and 2019. Robotic rehabilitation systems for the lower limbs have emerged as promising alternatives to conventional therapy for post-stroke patients. This work presents a review of current mechatronic technologies applied to lower-limb rehabilitation robotics, based on peer-reviewed scientific literature and patent developments from the past decade. The review was conducted using the Scopus, ScienceDirect, and IEEE Xplore databases, supplemented by patents from WIPO, Espacenet, and ASEAN IP. Rehabilitation methods, control strategies, and clinical outcomes of robotic systems were analyzed. The findings show that, when used alongside conventional therapy, these systems yield significant improvements in motor function, gait capacity, muscle strength, and balance. The patent analysis reveals diverse technological approaches, such as the integration of cryotherapy, multimodal control systems, and bilateral coupling strategies. However, heterogeneity in performance metrics and experimental designs limits rigorous comparisons across strategies. Based on these findings, a lower-limb rehabilitation exoskeleton is proposed, featuring three operating modes: knee, ankle, and combined. A neural network-based control system using EMG (Electromyography) signals is employed to recognize movement intention. This technology could significantly benefit developing countries like Peru by strengthening post-stroke rehabilitation services. © Article published by the Revista de la Facultad de Medicina Humana of Universidad Ricardo Palma. It is an open access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which allows non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original work is duly cited.

Instituciones: Universidad Ricardo Palma