Evaluating Safety and Usability of Robot-Aided Telerehabilitation System for Upper-limb Therapy

Evaluating Safety and Usability of Robot-Aided Telerehabilitation System for Upper-limb Therapy | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Evaluating Safety and Usability of Robot-Aided Telerehabilitation System for Upper-limb Therapy Md Mahafuzur Rahaman Khan, Kishor Lakshminarayanan, Inga Wang, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6172713/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background Robot-assisted telerehabilitation (RAT) is an emerging field that integrates digital health technologies with robotics to deliver remote therapy, offering significant potential to overcome geographical and accessibility barriers in stroke rehabilitation. This approach holds great promise for enhancing upper limb (UL) recovery in stroke survivors. This study aims to assess the safety and usability of a new tele-rehabilitation system that uses the desktop-mounted rehabilitation (DMRbotV3) device and the HoloLens 2, designed to assist stroke survivors with UL dysfunction in performing therapy. Methods Six individuals with chronic stroke (onset ≥ 3 months) and six occupational therapists (OTs) participated in a single-session usability study. They interacted with the DMRbotV3 robotic device to perform structured passive and active therapeutic exercises within mixed-reality (MR) environments powered by the HoloLens 2 platform. Safety, usability, and user experience were assessed using the System Usability Scale (SUS), a customized gamification and satisfaction questionnaire, an experience evaluation survey, and follow-up interviews. Results The DMRbotV3 system was deemed secure, as evidenced by all twelve participants successfully completing the study without any adverse events. Usability evaluations showed a high level of user satisfaction, with a mean (SD) SUS score of 86.7 (8.5)%. The participants provided positive and constructive feedback on the integration of MR with HoloLens 2, which was determined to substantially increase their engagement and motivation during the exercises. Additional feedback emphasized the system’s ease of use, the need for a variety of handle designs, and the importance of simplifying certain exercise games. Conclusion The study demonstrated that the DMRbotV3 system integrated with HoloLens 2 is a safe, feasible, and well-accepted approach for UL rehabilitation in post-stroke individuals. This approach, by enabling more frequent and comprehensive self-administered practice in-home or remote settings, has the potential to enhance telerehabilitation outcomes and support functional recovery in stroke survivors. Physical Medicine & Rehab Robotics Post-stroke Upper-limb Home-based Telerehabilitation Internet of Thing (IoT) Robot-assisted therapy Remote therapy HoloLens 2 Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6172713","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":425239133,"identity":"71c4583d-d5ca-4078-912d-e05175f88412","order_by":0,"name":"Md Mahafuzur Rahaman Khan","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAArklEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACCQkgIfnHBsLjIVqLZUMaqVoqGw6ToEVydvOzBzd3nE/ccO0A44O3bURokZY5Zm4488ztxA23E5gN5xKjRU4iwUxagu124rbbCWzSvMRpSf8m/YftHEgL+2+itEhL5JhJSLYdANvCTJQWyRk5ZRISZ5KN999ObJacc44ILRI30rdJSFTYyc6cnXzww5syIrQgAcYG0tSPglEwCkbBKMANAARwN2eQtRU6AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3945-3405","institution":"University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Md","middleName":"Mahafuzur Rahaman","lastName":"Khan","suffix":""},{"id":425239134,"identity":"8043ed30-5ccb-4834-a23f-c1e5d16e1fd2","order_by":1,"name":"Kishor Lakshminarayanan","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Vellore Institute of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Kishor","middleName":"","lastName":"Lakshminarayanan","suffix":""},{"id":425239135,"identity":"16a49098-d5a4-452c-95a2-8561d923a135","order_by":2,"name":"Inga Wang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Inga","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""},{"id":425239136,"identity":"b78e5a11-fa96-43cc-ab64-168dd68d129f","order_by":3,"name":"Jenna Barber","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Froedtert Hospital","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jenna","middleName":"","lastName":"Barber","suffix":""},{"id":425239137,"identity":"a71597fb-d2c9-4461-a3e1-f466310a74d0","order_by":4,"name":"Erin M. 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This approach holds great promise for enhancing upper limb (UL) recovery in stroke survivors. This study aims to assess the safety and usability of a new tele-rehabilitation system that uses the desktop-mounted rehabilitation (DMRbotV3) device and the HoloLens 2, designed to assist stroke survivors with UL dysfunction in performing therapy.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMethods \u003c/strong\u003eSix individuals with chronic stroke (onset ≥ 3 months) and six occupational therapists (OTs) participated in a single-session usability study. They interacted with the DMRbotV3 robotic device to perform structured passive and active therapeutic exercises within mixed-reality (MR) environments powered by the HoloLens 2 platform. 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This approach, by enabling more frequent and comprehensive self-administered practice in-home or remote settings, has the potential to enhance telerehabilitation outcomes and support functional recovery in stroke survivors.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Evaluating Safety and Usability of Robot-Aided Telerehabilitation System for Upper-limb Therapy","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-03-10 02:26:17","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6172713/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"d57262e9-05c9-49b4-abf0-720deee9a234","owner":[],"postedDate":"March 10th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":45323730,"name":"Physical Medicine \u0026 Rehab"},{"id":45323731,"name":"Robotics"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-03-10T02:26:17+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-03-10 02:26:17","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-6172713","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-6172713","identity":"rs-6172713","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}