Article

Poststroke rehabilitation care has evolved considerably over the
last decade. The emergence of the concepts of brain plasticity and motor learning
has led to the development of new therapeutic approaches. Most of the new
strategies are based on movement therapy, which can have a real impact on
neurological recovery, sometimes with significant functional benefit for the patient.
In this context of evolving practices, the hemiplegic
arm is the subject of special attention. Considering the often unfavorable
"natural" prognosis and the relatively limited impact of conventional therapies;
researchers have focused work on new alternatives. Cooperation between developers
of technological advances and the medical community has led to the development of
innovative therapeutic options often based on the use of specific technological
tools (functional electric stimulation, virtual reality, transcranial magnetic
stimulation...) to solicit or facilitate movement. PERSPECTIVES/CONCLUSION:
Robot-assisted rehabilitation lies within this scope. The positive results
reported in the most recent publications and the growing interest for this type
of therapy in the fields of medical and engineering research should open the way
for extremely promising prospects. The technological performance of new robots
has nevertheless raised a large number of unanswered questions, implying a
significant amount of further research.
CI - Copyright (c) 2009 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Langue : FRANCAIS