Robotic Rehabilitation and Spinal Cord Injury: a Narrative Review

Mobility after spinal cord injury (SCI) is a primary goal for recovery and improved quality of life. Robotic devices can enhance recovery through repetitive, functional movement and increased neural plasticity. Robotics can also act as a mobility aid beyond orthoses and wheelchairs. Lower extremity exoskeletons have been shown to provide benefits to the secondary medical conditions after SCI such as pain, spasticity, decreased bone density, and neurogenic bowel. Robotic technology and adjunct methods are being used therapeutically with positive outcomes, opening doors to develop more innovative ways to promote plasticity and recovery in SCI rehabilitation.

• 1
  Upper extremity robotic devices lack strong scientific evidence to support their use in SCI populations, partly due to the absence of a consensus on appropriate outcome measures.
• 2
  Lower extremity exoskeletons have shown potential in improving walking speed and addressing secondary medical conditions like spasticity, pain, cardiovascular health, bowel function, bone density, and overall quality of life after SCI.
• 3
  Adjunct methods like noninvasive brain stimulation (tDCS, rTMS), brain-machine interfaces (BMIs), gamification, and virtual reality can potentially enhance the effects of robotic neurorehabilitation.