Robotic therapy in upper limb rehabilitation: medical, scientific, social and economic implications
Keywords:
upper limb; exoskeleton; robotic therapy; physiotherapy; rehabilitation.Abstract
The application of the robotic therapy with controlled motor parameters, it conditions biomechanical and clinical variables that allow a greater scope in the rehabilitation of the upper limb. To analyze the current state of knowledge regarding robotic therapy in upper limb rehabilitation and its medical, scientific, social, and economic implications. A systematic review was conducted of randomized and non - randomized clinical studies, pilot studies, completion theses and textbooks, reviews and meta-analyses concerning the upper limb rehabilitation. The search strategy was developed by accessing libraries of medical journals indexed in the following databases PubMed/Medline, Scopus, Cochrane Library, Scielo y Lilacs, EmCare, Phisiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) using Scopus and Science Citation Index o WoS search engines and the tools Power Query, Scrapy Python; from 2017 to 2024, in English and Spanish. The terms upper limb, exoskeleton, robotic therapy, physiotherapy, rehabilitation, were used and combined. For a more precise search, the filters type of work (“article”), discipline (“biomedic sciences” and “medicine”) were activated. A total of 120 manuscripts met these criteria. 43 were eligible and duplicate studies and case reports were discarded. 60 did not fit the topic. Studies are needed to further validate robotic therapy and increase evidence of its potential.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Marcia Sandra Hernández Zayas, Jorge Bonzon Regalado, Roberto Sagaró Zamora, Mauricio Torres Quesada
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