This review aims to compare existing robot-assisted ankle rehabilitation techniques in terms of robot design. Included studies\nmainly consist of selected papers in two published reviews involving a variety of robot-assisted ankle rehabilitation techniques.\nA free search was also made in Google Scholar and Scopus by using keywords ââ?¬Å?ankleâË?â??,ââ?¬Â and ââ?¬Å?robotâË?â??,ââ?¬Â and (ââ?¬Å?rehabilitatâË?â??ââ?¬Â or\nââ?¬Å?treatâË?â??ââ?¬Â). The search is limited to English-language articles published between January 1980 and September 2016. Results show\nthat existing robot-assisted ankle rehabilitation techniques can be classified into wearable exoskeleton and platform-based\ndevices. Platform-based devices are mostly developed for the treatment of a variety of ankle musculoskeletal and neurological\ninjuries, while wearable ones focus more on ankle-related gait training. In terms of robot design, comparative analysis indicates\nthat an ideal ankle rehabilitation robot should have aligned rotation center as the ankle joint, appropriate workspace, and\nactuation torque, no matter how many degrees of freedom (DOFs) it has. Single-DOF ankle robots are mostly developed for\nspecific applications, while multi-DOF devices are more suitable for comprehensive ankle rehabilitation exercises. Other factors\nincluding posture adjustability and sensing functions should also be considered to promote related clinical applications. An\nankle rehabilitation robot with reconfigurability to maximize its functions will be a new research point towards optimal design,\nespecially on parallel mechanisms.
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