Development of frozen shoulder rehabilitation robot based on motion capture data

In this study, an exoskeleton-type robot is developed to assist frozen shoulder rehabilitation in a systematic and efficient manner for humans. The developed robot has two main features. The first is a structural feature: this robot was designed to rehabilitate both shoulders of a patient, and the three axes of the shoulder meet at one point to generate human-like ball joint motions. The second is a functional feature that is divided into two rehabilitation modes: the first mode is a joint rehabilitation mode that helps to recover the shoulder's original range of motion by moving the patient's shoulder according to patterns obtained by motion capture, and the second mode is a muscle rehabilitation mode that strengthens the shoulder muscles by suitably resisting the patient's motion. Through these two modes, frozen shoulder rehabilitation can be performed systematically according to the patient's condition. The development procedure is described in detail.