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This book reports on the latest technological and clinical advances in the field of neurorehabilitation. It is, however, much more than a conventional survey of the state-of-the-art in neurorehabilitation technologies and therapies. It was written on the basis of a week of lively discussions between PhD students and leading research experts during the Summer School on Neurorehabilitation (SSNR2014), held September 15-19 in Baiona, Spain. Its unconventional format makes it a perfect guide for all PhD students, researchers and professionals interested in gaining a multidisciplinary perspective on current and future neurorehabilitation scenarios. The book addresses various aspects of neurorehabilitation research and practice, including a selection of common impairments affecting CNS function, such as stroke and spinal cord injury, as well as cutting-edge rehabilitation and diagnostics technologies, including robotics, neuroprosthetics, brain-machine interfaces and neuromodulation.

The new technological advances opened widely the application field of robots. Robots are moving from the classical application scenario with structured industrial environments and tedious repetitive tasks to new application environments that require more interaction with the humans. It is in this context that the concept of Wearable Robots (WRs) has emerged. One of the most exciting and challenging aspects in the design of biomechatronics wearable robots is that the human takes a place in the design, this fact imposes several restrictions and requirements in the design of this sort of devices. The key distinctive aspect in wearable robots is their intrinsic dual cognitive and physical interaction with humans. The key role of a robot in a physical human–robot interaction (pHRI) is the generation of supplementary forces to empower and overcome human physical limits. The crucial role of a cognitive human–robot interaction (cHRI) is to make the human aware of the possibilities of the robot while allowing them to maintain control of the robot at all times. This book gives a general overview of the robotics exoskeletons and introduces the reader to this robotic field. Moreover, it describes the development of an upper limb exoskeleton for tremor suppression in order to illustrate the influence of a specific application in the designs decisions.