SmartAssist™: Adaptive robotic assistance to maximize patient engagement with the Barrett Upper-Extremity Robotic Trainer (Burt) - Project Summary
In stroke rehabilitation, patient engagement in therapy is critical for improving functional outcomes. Robot-
assisted rehabilitation can provide repeatable, high-intensity therapy tailored to the needs of the patient, while
also decreasing the load on the therapist. The Barrett Upper-Extremity Robotic Trainer (Burt®), an FDA Class-II
medical device developed and sold by Barrett Technology, is a robotic system that provides active assistance in
three dimensions in a large-human scale workspace and an engaging patient interface to enhance therapy.
To enable more individualized treatment and maximize patient engagement while also reducing the burden
on the therapist, we are developing SmartAssist™, a real-time adaptive robotic assistance mode for Burt® that
encourages the patient to use their own volitional movement as much as possible. In previous work, we developed
a functional prototype of the real-time adaptive Burt® system. In this project, we take a user-centered approach
to continued development with goals of (1) enhancing the SmartAssist™ control functionality with tuning and new
features as requested by users; (2) adding advanced data visualization features to identify areas of difficulty;
and (3) conducting a preliminary clinical study to evaluate efficacy in partnership with researchers at Spaulding
Rehabilitation Hospital.
The deliverables of this work are a fully functional adaptive assistive Burt® system with SmartAssist™ includ-
ing several Burt® games using adaptive assistance, an intuitive path specification interface, data visualization to
help therapists quickly identify difficult areas and adapt their training plan, and an understanding of how these
features can improve patient outcomes. We will also complete a randomised controlled trial, providing us with an
understanding of how these features can improve patient outcomes. This will prepare us for potential commer-
cialization of the Burt® SmartAssist™ system, making highly individualized training widely available across the
U.S. on an affordable and user-friendly platform.
