Special Issue on Advanced Technologies for Medical Robotics

Development of Rehabilitation and Assistive Robots in China: Dilemmas and Solutions

Expand
  • (1. Department of Public Administration, Party School of CPC Hangzhou Committee, Hangzhou 310024, China; 2. Institute of Medical Robotics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China)

Received date: 2022-07-30

  Revised date: 2023-03-10

  Accepted date: 2023-05-28

  Online published: 2023-05-22

Abstract

China is rapidly becoming an aging society, leading to a significant demand for chronic disease management and personalized healthcare. The development of rehabilitation and assistive robotics in China has gathered significant attention not only in research fields but also in industries. Such robots aim to either guide patients in completing therapeutic training or assist people with impaired functions in performing their daily activities. In the past decades, we have witnessed the advancement in rehabilitation and assistive robotics, with diverse mechanical designs, functionalities, and purposes. However, the construction of dedicated regulations and policies is relatively lagged compared with the flourishing development in research fields. Moreover, these kinds of robots are working or collaborating closely with human beings, bringing unprecedented considerations on ethical issues. This paper aims to provide an overview of major dilemmas in the development of rehabilitation and assistive robotics in China and propose several potential solutions.

Cite this article

ZHAO Lingling1*(赵玲玲),GUO Yao2(郭遥) . Development of Rehabilitation and Assistive Robots in China: Dilemmas and Solutions[J]. Journal of Shanghai Jiaotong University(Science), 2023 , 28(3) : 382 -390 . DOI: 10.1007/s12204-023-2596-9

References

[1]CAMPISI J, KAPAHI P, LITHGOW G J, et al. From discoveries in ageing research to therapeutics for healthy ageing [J]. Nature, 2019, 571(7764): 183-192.
[2]GUO Y, CHEN W D, ZHAO J, et al. Medical robotics: Opportunities in China [J]. Annual Review of Control, Robotics, and Autonomous Systems, 2022, 5: 361-383.
[3]HOU Y J, DAN X L, BABBAR M, et al. Ageing as a risk factor for neurodegenerative disease [J]. Nature Reviews Neurology, 2019, 15(10): 565-581.
[4]FULLMAN N, YEARWOOD J, ABAY S M, et al. Measuring performance on the Healthcare Access and Quality Index for 195 countries and territories and selected subnational locations: A systematic analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016 [J]. The Lancet, 2018, 391(10136): 2236-2271.
[5]WU S M, WU B, LIU M, et al. Stroke in China: Advances and challenges in epidemiology, prevention, and management [J]. The Lancet Neurology, 2019, 18(4): 394-405.
[6]LO A C, GUARINO P D, RICHARDS L G, et al. Robot-assisted therapy for long-term upper-limb impairment after stroke [J]. The New England Journal of Medicine, 2010, 362(19): 1772-1783.
[7]DELLON B, MATSUOKA Y. Prosthetics, exoskeletons, and rehabilitation [grand challenges of robotics] [J]. IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine, 2007, 14(1): 30-34.
[8]MCCOLL D, NEJAT G. Meal-time with a socially assistive robot and older adults at a long-term care facility [J]. Journal of Human-Robot Interaction, 2013, 2(1): 152-171.
[9]GULL M A, BAI S P, BAK T. A review on design of upper limb exoskeletons [J]. Robotics, 2020, 9(1): 16.
[10]MENDEZ V, IBERITE F, SHOKUR S, et al. Current solutions and future trends for robotic prosthetic hands [J]. Annual Review of Control, Robotics, and Autonomous Systems, 2021, 4: 595-627.
[11]WANG L J, WANG J C, CHEN W D. Path planning and navigation for intelligent wheelchair in dynamic environments [J]. Journal of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 2010, 44(11): 1524-1528 (in Chinese).
[12]MATARI?M J. Socially assistive robotics: Human augmentation versus automation [J]. Science Robotics, 2017, 2(4): eaam5410.
[13]GUO Y, GU X, YANG G Z. Human–robot interaction for rehabilitation robotics [M]//Digitalization in healthcare. Cham: Springer, 2021: 269-295.
[14]YANG G Z, CAMBIAS J, CLEARY K, et al. Medical robotics — Regulatory, ethical, and legal considerations for increasing levels of autonomy [J]. Science Robotics, 2017, 2(4): eaam8638.
[15]KREBS H I, HOGAN N, AISEN M L, et al. Robot-aided neurorehabilitation [J]. IEEE Transactions on Rehabilitation Engineering, 1998, 6(1): 75-87.
[16]NEF T, MIHELJ M, RIENER R. ARMin: A robot for patient-cooperative arm therapy [J]. Medical & Biological Engineering & Computing, 2007, 45(9): 887-900.
[17]ANGOLD H K R, HARDING N, RICHMOND K, et al. Ekso bionics-ekso bionics [J]. IEEE Spectrum, 2015, 49(1): 30-32.
[18]ESQUENAZI A, TALATY M, PACKEL A, et al. The ReWalk powered exoskeleton to restore ambulatory function to individuals with thoracic-level motor-complete spinal cord injury [J]. American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, 2012, 91(11): 911-921.
[19]TAN X D, LIU X X, SHAO H Y. Healthy China 2030: A vision for health care [J]. Value in Health Regional Issues, 2017, 12: 112-114.
[20]D′IAZ I, GIL J J, SA′NCHEZ E. Lower-limb robotic rehabilitation: Literature review and challenges [J]. Journal of Robotics, 2011, 2011: 1-11.
[21]MIRIYEV A, STACK K, LIPSON H. Soft material for soft actuators [J]. Nature Communications, 2017, 8(1): 1-8.
[22]LEWIS M, SYCARA K, WALKER P. The role of trust in human-robot interaction [M]//Foundations of trusted autonomy. Cham: Springer, 2018: 135-159.
[23]CHENG L, CHEN M, LI Z W. Design and control of a wearable hand rehabilitation robot [J]. IEEE Access, 2018, 6: 74039-74050.
[24]GOPINATH D, JAIN S, ARGALL B D. Human-in-the-loop optimization of shared autonomy in assistive robotics [J]. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 2017, 2(1): 247-254.
[25]POWLES J, HODSON H. Google DeepMind and healthcare in an age of algorithms [J]. Health and Technology, 2017, 7(4): 351-367.
Outlines

/