Influence of Session Duration in Robot-Assisted Neurorehabilitation Therapies: A Pilot Study with Patients

Several studies have shown that robotic rehabilitation platforms are able to improve long-term outcomes of patients’ neurological treatments. Furthermore, they have indicated that therapy performance improves if as many sessions as possible are performed. However, the influence of the duration of the session on the performance of the robot-assisted is unknown. This makes it difficult to adapt therapies to patients’ needs. In this preliminary study the influence of session duration has been analyzed. This pilot study has involved four patients separated into two groups with different session durations: 45 min and 30 min. Results show an improvement in upper limb motor function in both groups of patients, improving their exercise performance with a lower assistance level. Differences observed between the two groups of patients are not enough to affirm that there is a difference in the improvement of the motor control of the patients due to the session duration.