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Robotics in Neurorehabilitation: Beyond the Hype—Understanding What It Can (and Cannot) Do

Dr. Rishabh Pathak
Over the past decade, robotic neurorehabilitation has become one of the most discussed innovations in neurological recovery. Robotic gait trainers, upper-limb rehabilitation systems, exoskeletons, and AI-assisted rehabilitation devices are increasingly being adopted by hospitals and rehabilitation centres worldwide. However, an important question remains: Are robots the future of neurorehabilitation—or are they simply another tool in the rehabilitation toolbox? As clinicians and researchers, we must move beyond marketing claims and focus on scientific evidence, patient selection, and clinical reasoning. What is Robotic Neurorehabilitation? Robotic neurorehabilitation involves the use of electromechanical devices that assist, guide, resist, or augment movement during therapy. These technologies include: • Robotic gait trainers • Wearable exoskeletons • Upper limb robotic rehabilitation devices • End-effector robotic systems • Sensor-based rehabilitation platforms • AI-assiste...
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What is Laplace Dirichlet-Rule-Based-Methods (LDRBMs)?

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Dr. Rishabh Pathak


 

Laplace-Dirichlet-Rule-Based-Methods (LDRBMs) are a class of Rule-Based-Methods (RBMs) used to generate cardiac muscle fiber orientations in electromechanical models. These methods define the orientation of myocardial fibers within the heart by solving Laplace boundary-value problems. Specifically, LDRBMs determine the transmural, apico-basal, and inter-ventricular distances as solutions to Laplace equations within the computational domain. By prescribing boundary conditions on the epicardial, endocardial, and base surfaces of the heart, LDRBMs provide a mathematical framework for generating realistic fiber architectures that play a crucial role in electric signal propagation and myocardial contraction. These methods are essential for accurately modeling the biomechanics of the heart and are widely used in computational cardiac electromechanics research.

 

Piersanti, R., Regazzoni, F., Salvador, M., Corno, A. F., Dede', L., Vergara, C., & Quarteroni, A. (2021). 3D-0D closed-loop model for the simulation of cardiac biventricular electromechanics. *arXiv preprint arXiv:2108.01907*.


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