Project Partners
University of Reading (UK)
William Harwin
Department of Cybernetics
Whiteknights, PO Box 225
Reading
RG6 6AY
Tel: +44 (0) 118 9316792
Email:
Rehab Robotics (UK)
Mike Topping
Rehab Robotics, School of Art & Design
College Road, Stoke on Trent
Staffs, ST4 2XN
Tel: +44 (0) 1782 294477
Email:
Zenon (Greece)
Kostas Kirklis
Zenon S. A. Robotics and Informatics
Kanavi 5
Glyka Nera Attikis
GR-15354
Athens
Tel: +30 1 6041 582
Email:
Virgo (Greece)
George Lutas
Virgo Ltd
104 Aiolou Str
105 64 Athens, Greece
Tel: +30 1 3257 459
Email:
University of Stafford (UK)
Jane Smith
Centre for Rehabilitation Robotics
Staffordshire University
School of Art and Design, College Road
Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire
ST4 2XN
Tel: +44 (0) 1782 294477
Email:
University of Ljubljana (Slovenia)
Marko Munih
Faculty of Electrical Engineering
Trzaska 25
Ljubljana 1001, Slovenia
Tel: +386 61 1768 219
Email:
Trinity College Dublin (Ireland)
Emma Stokes
School of Physiotherapy
Trinity Centre for Health Sciences
St James’s hospital
Dublin 8, Ireland
Tel: +353 1 608 2127
Email:
TNOTPD (Netherlands)
Bart Driessen
TNO Institute of Applied Physics
Stieltjesweg 1
PO Box 155
2600 AD Delft
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 15 269 2394
Email:
University of Newcastle (UK)
Garth Johnson
Centre for Rehabilitation and Engineering Studies
Stephenson Building
Claremont Road
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
NE1 7RU
Tel: +44 (0) 191 226196
Email:
Royal Berkshire Hospital (UK)
Christine Collin
Consultant in Neurology and Rehabilitation
West Berkshire Health Authority
Reading
Tel: +44 (0) 118 9636367
Email:
The GENTLE/S robot assistance project has been set up to provide both diagnostic and therapeutic help to people who, following a stroke or traumatic brain injury, have lost the function of an arm. The design of the robot itself is such that all those involved in the patients’ rehabilitation are included in the process from physiotherapists, to physicians, family members to healthcare managers.
Strokes are a leading cause of disability and affect around 200 in every 100,000 people for the first time each year. The incidence rises rapidly in older people with two thirds of those affected being over 65 years of age. Around 65% of people survive some with severe impairment and it has been shown that early, intensive and task oriented therapy can improve the outcome for each individual.
The GENTLE/S robot provides therapy for upper limbs that is tailored to the individual patients’ needs, it will allow for repetitive, task oriented movements with virtual and motivational feedback, and aims to re-educate movement, recover the muscle strength in the limbs and achieve goals that improve their
independence. This is done both by real tasks with an active grasping mechanism at the end of a robot arm and also through virtual reality with computer graphics where the user manipulates objects on a computer screen through a simple ‘reach and touch’ technique. The robot teaches the correct movement pattern using a video clip of the user in action showing the patient how the task should be performed and what errors should be avoided. The patients’ physiotherapist customises the exercise to each user’s specific needs and selects the appropriate level of assistance required. For the virtual tasks, different computer ‘wizards’ can be implemented to interact with the user, each having a personality defined and assigned according to the user’s background, age, sex, culture etc. In this way the GENTLE/S interface helps develop a sense of friendship and companionship to encourage the user. The wizard can guide the user through a variety of virtual environments and tasks, for instance placing a drink can on a dining room table, or a pan on the cooker.