Prof. ZHANG Dan develops the world’s first 3-DoF ankle rehabilitation robot product

Prof. ZHANG Dan, Chair Professor of Intelligent Robotics and Automation, and his research team have developed the world’s first Ankle Joint Rehabilitation Robot product with three degrees of freedom (3-DoF), enabling home-based rehabilitation training for patients with restricted joint mobility, as well as postoperative ankle rehabilitation for patients with cerebral palsy and stroke. Integrated with embodied intelligence technology, the system can automatically adjust to the target position for training according to the user’s foot size and ankle joint position, thereby providing personalised rehabilitation training. Patients can also undergo rehabilitation training using the robot on bed without standing.

The system fully simulates the natural movements that occur in multiple directions and angles at the ankle joint including flexion, rolling and rotation, surpassing similar rehabilitation equipment on the market that only supports one or two degrees of freedom. The robot combines force feedback function，EMG feedback function and neuromuscular electrical stimulation technology to provide two training modes, patient-initiated active training, machine-driven passive training, and resistance training to meet the training needs of users at different stages of rehabilitation. The intelligent robot is designed to be portable, and its cost is much lower than that of similar equipment on the market. Prof. Zhang is now collaborating with Huashan Hospital, an affiliate hospital of Fudan University, to carry out clinical trial in which hospital patients are provided with robot-assisted rehabilitation for free.

Prof. Zhang is currently Director of PolyU—Nanjing Technology and Innovation Research Institute and Director of Consortium for Intelligent Robotics Research. He also serves as a Member of Research Institute for Advanced Manufacturing (RIAM), Research Institute for Artificial Intelligence of Things (RIAIoT), Research Institute for Intelligent Wearable Systems (RI-IWEAR), Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Research Institute for Smart Energy (RISE) and Research Centre of Textiles for Future Fashion (RCTFF).

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