A review on the application of autonomous and intelligent robotic devices in medical rehabilitation

Robot-assisted rehabilitation is an exciting field which aims to incorporate relevant developments in robotics related to rehabilitation with the intention of defining new methodologies for intervening problems related to muscular, neuromuscular, and osseous diseases. In this study, a systematic and comprehensive literature analysis is conducted to identify the contribution of artificial intelligence applied on robotic devices for motor rehabilitation, highlighting its relation with the rehabilitation cycle, and clarifying the prospective research directions in the development of more autonomous rehabilitation procedures. Considering this main goal, a summarized definition of general rehabilitation techniques is established. Then, such definition is particularized for technological-aided rehabilitating medical treatments implementing artificial intelligence methods, identifying the sections included within the process and the associated interaction degrees. This generic definition is analyzed using the current literature in muscle-skeletal treatment robotics as reference framework. This analysis considers the components and sections included in rehabilitation sequence. This review also describes a more in-depth description of the principal categories for classifying therapeutic robotic devices, including descriptions of the main past and present outcomes for each class of medical robotics for rehabilitation. The existing challenges and open options to develop more efficient autonomous (with the application of diverse artificial intelligence approaches) rehabilitating procedures are discoursed. Besides, taking into account this comprehensive review, a sequence of technical requires which must be taken into consideration when designing, developing and implementing autonomous robotic devices aimed to contribute to rehabilitation medical systems are deliberated. A brief description of the application of artificial intelligence and autonomous medical rehabilitation treatment is analyzed in terms of the exciting technical challenges and the ethical compromises that such a treatment option implies.