In the United States about 795,000 people suffer from a stroke each year [1]. Of those who survive the stroke, the majority experience paralysis on one side of their body, a condition known as hemiparesis. Physical therapy has been shown to restore functionality of the paretic limbs, especially when done early and often [2]. However, the effectiveness of therapy is limited by the availability of therapists and the amount of practice that patients do on their own.
Robot-assisted therapy has been explored as a means of guiding patients through the time-intensive exercise regimes that most therapy techniques prescribe. Several wearable, robotic orthoses for the hand and wrist have been developed and are still being developed today [3]. However, few of these existing solutions allow for any significant range of motion, and those that do only offer one degree of freedom. The assisted degree of...
