Stroke is a worldwide leading cause of physical disabilities. In Vietnam, the stroke incidence rate is about 161 per 100,000 persons per year, with over 150,000 patients recorded in 202. The most common impairment after a stroke is hemiparesis, which reduces the ability to walk or perform the activities of daily living. Muscle weakness reduces autonomy and independence; as a result, more than half of stroke survivors need care from relatives or friends for their daily activities.

Robot-assisted rehabilitation is a particular focus of assistive technology that enables functional recovery from mild to severe neurologic injuries with high training intensity, repetitiveness, and adaptive support. Although pioneering technologies in rehabilitation robotics have been developed since the late 90s, there is no consensus on optimal robot-assisted therapy for stroke survivors. This is due to the lack of knowledge of functional recovery for individuals with muscle weakness and difficulties in accessing and transferring healthcare needs into design considerations. For example, a global therapy program is characterized by multistage rehabilitation from complete and partial assistance to resistance. Complete assistance requires an external force to coordinate human legs relevant to a desired movement trajectory. This stage is typically devoted to patients with severe neurologic impairment. For partial assistance, an external force is added to assist or support the leg movement, as patients cannot use their effort to move the legs. Resistance implies processes that enhance the patient’s ability to correct the leg movement under an external force. However, most exoskeleton robots are designated for only one stage (either complete assistance, partial assistance or resistance). Patients must be trained with multiple robots to complete a global therapy program, which is time-consuming and cost-ineffective.

This research project will explore cutting-edge technologies in robotics, physical human-robot interaction, artificial intelligence (AI), and rehabilitation engineering to develop a novel exoskeleton robotic system to achieve complete training. This research will clarify the up-to-date design philosophy, redefine the definition of robots and intelligence means for multistage rehabilitation, and assess physical human-robot interaction to offer safe, robust, and reliable training with shared control (user preference and clinician prescription). If successful, the invented technologies will benefit the healthcare and robotics industries, transforming multistage rehabilitation from therapist-guided to robot-guided treatment.