Power-free knee rehabilitation robot for home-based isokinetic training

作者：Yanggang Feng, H. Wu, Jiaxin Ren, Wuxiang Zhang, Jia Xiu, Xiuhua Liu, Xingyu Hu, Haoxiang Jing, Y. J. Li, Yuhang Zhao, Ziyan Wang, Xuzhou Lang, Jun Xu, Yixin Shao, Qi Su, Yuanmingfei Zhang, Mouwang Zhou, Ke Liu, Nie Yong, Jian Wang, Fuzhen Yuan, Liu Wang, Xilun Ding · 发表于：Nature Communications · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1038/s41467-025-57578-z · 被引用次数：15 · 研究领域：Prosthetics and Rehabilitation Robotics、Muscle activation and electromyography studies、Total Knee Arthroplasty Outcomes

Robot-assisted isokinetic training has been widely adopted for knee rehabilitation. However, existing rehabilitation facilities are often heavy, bulky, and extremely energy-consuming, which limits the rehabilitation opportunities only at designated hospitals. In this study, we introduce a highly integrated and lightweight (52 kg) knee rehabilitation robot that can provide home-based isokinetic training without external power. By integrating a motor, torque/angle sensors, control circuit, and energy regeneration circuit into a single driver module, our robot can provide power-free isokinetic training by recycling mechanical work from the trainee. Ten postsurgical subjects were involved in an interventional randomized trial (ChiCTR2300076715, Part I) and the cross-sectional area of trained legs (experimental group) was significantly higher than that of untrained legs (control group). The primary outcomes, muscle growth (quadriceps: 5.93%, hamstrings: 10.27%) and strength improvements (quadriceps: 70%, hamstrings: 84%), achieved with our robots surpass those of existing commercial rehabilitation devices. These findings indicate that our robot presents a viable option for home-based knee rehabilitation, significantly enhancing the accessibility of effective treatment.