Clinical evaluations with robots in rehabilitation

The major goal of rehabilitation is to restore function back to a preinjured state. This includes restoration at the functional (e.g., task), performance (e.g., movement pattern), and neuronal (e.g., neural resource) levels. Understanding intervention-induced changes at each of these levels is crucial since it can disentangle compensation compared to true recovery. In this chapter, we will focus on the necessity of quantitative measurements at the performance and neuronal levels to supplement clinical measures of function in stroke, specifically with the help of robotics, given their crucial roles in providing a well-controlled virtual environment for both rehabilitation and evaluation of the hand and arm.