SCRIPT: Tele-robotics at Home; Functional Architecture and Clinical Application

After the event of a stroke, patients have at least 12 months during which their brains are highly susceptible to the benefits of neuro-rehabilitation treatments. On the other hand, due to the high costs of clinical neurorehabilitation, post-stroke treatments are limited in all countries to only a few weeks after the stroke event. Hence, any system aimed at prolonging neuro-rehabilitation at patients’ homes, and with low-cost treatments, addresses a major issue in the current health management systems. Recent developments have revealed a great potential for robotic devices delivering repetitive training to improve arm function after stroke, thus facilitating a high intensity and a large number of repetitive training. The SCRIPT project aims to develop robotic technologies for the home as it would enable self-administration of more intense and more frequent exercises, by enabling hand and wrist exercise that have great potential for contribution to personal independence. Remote management and support of the patient is incorporated through a communication platform that supports the remote adjustment of the therapy program. In this way, the patient can exercise at home, while the exercise is remotely supervised without increasing therapist time, while reducing the frequency of hospital or clinics visits.