Pediatric Rehabilitation: Building PedBOT: Rehabilitation Robotics for Children

Session Description: Children with gait deviations due to atypical movement of the foot across the ankle joint require physical therapy that includes home exercise. Compliance with home exercise programs is notoriously poor for children in physical therapy, despite evidence that a single hour or “therapy homework” in one week makes a significant difference in function for children with disabilities. Robot-assisted therapy has shown promise for optimizing delivery of rehabilitation services as it provides intensive physical task-specific training. Gamefied therapy can also be more engaging than standard therapy in home exercise programs. We describe the development of a robot designed to strengthen, stretch, and increase motor control of the movement of the foot across the ankle. PedBOT is a three degree of freedom robot with programmable assistance and resistance. We demonstrate the evolution over four years from PedBOT Lab to PedBOT Home and the factors that informed our decisions to change. We present clinical trial results from both Lab and Home versions to support our decisions.

Should this session offer CME? : yes

Length of Session: 45 min