Leg-Robot for Demonstration of Spastic Movements of Brain-Injured Patients with Compact Magnetorheological Fluid Clutch

In this study, we propose a leg-shaped robot (Leg-Robot) with a compact magnetorheological fluid clutch to demonstrate several kinds of haptic control of abnormal movements of brain-injured patients. This system can be used in the practical training for trainees of physical therapies (physiotherapists). In this paper, we especially focus on ankle clonus, which is one of the abnormal movements usually arising after stroke. We suggest a control method to demonstrate haptics of the ankle clonus. We also confirmed its effectiveness for learning of the test skill. (C) Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden and The Robotics Society of Japan, 2010