Research of intent recognition in rehabilitation robots: a systematic review

Abstract

Purpose

Rehabilitation robots with intent recognition are helping people with dysfunction to enjoy better lives. Many rehabilitation robots with intent recognition have been developed by academic institutions and commercial companies. However, there is no systematic summary about the application of intent recognition in the field of rehabilitation robots. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to summarize the application of intent recognition in rehabilitation robots, analyze the current status of their research, and provide cutting-edge research directions for colleagues.

Materials and Methods

Literature searches were conducted on Web of Science, IEEE Xplore, ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, and Medline. Search terms included “rehabilitation robot”, “intent recognition”, “exoskeleton”, “prosthesis”, “surface electromyography (sEMG)” and “electroencephalogram (EEG)”. References listed in relevant literature were further screened according to inclusion and exclusion criteria.

Results

In this field, most studies have recognized movement intent by kinematic, sEMG, and EEG signals. However, in practical studies, the development of intent recognition in rehabilitation robots is limited by the hysteresis of kinematic signals and the weak anti-interference ability of sEMG and EEG signals.

Conclusions

Intent recognition has achieved a lot in the field of rehabilitation robotics but the key factors limiting its development are still timeliness and accuracy. In the future, intent recognition strategy with multi-sensor information fusion may be a good solution.

IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION

• As a technology, intent recognition can become a part of rehabilitation, assist patients to complete daily life activities, and improve their quality of life.

• Rehabilitation training equipment for treatment usually adopts a relatively stable prediction method, which aims to stimulate the enthusiasm of users to participate in training.

• Functionally enhanced rehabilitation aids have high requirements for the timeliness of movement intent recognition, and its purpose is to assist patients to complete activities of daily life.

Keywords:

• Rehabilitation robots
• intent recognition
• multi-sensor information
• sEMG
• EEG

Acknowledgments

The authors sincerely thank our team for their critical discussion and reading during manuscript preparation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the [National Natural Science Foundation of China] under Grant [number 62073224]; [Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality] under Grant [number 20DZ2201700]; and [Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality] under Grant [number 20S31901500].