Global Trends and Hotspots in Research on Rehabilitation Robots: A Bibliometric Analysis From 2010 to 2020

Abstract

Background: In recent years, with the development of medical science and artificial intelligence, research on rehabilitation robots has gained more and more attention, for nearly 10 years in the Web of Science database by journal of rehabilitation robot-related research literature analysis, to parse and track rehabilitation robot research hotspot and front, and provide some guidance for future research.Methods: This study employed computer retrieval of rehabilitation robot-related research published in the core data collection of the Web of Science database from 2010 to 2020, using CiteSpace 5.7 visualization software. The hotspots and frontiers of rehabilitation robot research are analyzed from the aspects of high-influence countries or regions, institutions, authors, high-frequency keywords, and emergent words.Results: A total of 3,194 articles were included. In recent years, the research on rehabilitation robots has been continuously hot, and the annual publication of relevant literature has shown a trend of steady growth. The United States ranked first with 819 papers, and China ranked second with 603 papers. Northwestern University ranked first with 161 publications. R. Riener, a professor at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, ranked as the first author with 48 articles. The Journal of Neural Engineering and Rehabilitation has the most published research, with 211 publications. In the past 10 years, research has focused on intelligent control, task analysis, and the learning, performance, and reliability of rehabilitation robots to realize the natural and precise interaction between humans and machines. Research on neural rehabilitation robots, brain–computer interface, virtual reality, flexible wearables, task analysis, and exoskeletons has attracted more and more attention.Conclusions: At present, the brain–computer interface, virtual reality, flexible wearables, task analysis, and exoskeleton rehabilitation robots are the research trends and hotspots. Future research should focus on the application of machine learning (ML), dimensionality reduction, and feature engineering technologies in the research and development of rehabilitation robots to improve the speed and accuracy of algorithms. To achieve wide application and commercialization, future rehabilitation robots should also develop toward mass production and low cost. We should pay attention to the functional needs of patients, strengthen multidisciplinary communication and cooperation, and promote rehabilitation robots to better serve the rehabilitation medical field.

Overview of the role of robots in upper limb disabilities rehabilitation: a scoping review

“…We wanted to identify the latest and newest technologies that can be used along with rehabilitation robots, evaluation methods and the outcomes of these robots in recent years. Xue et al [ 24 ], believed that rehabilitation robotics is a relatively young field growing rapidly with increasing penetration into therapeutic environments. Therefore, the newer dimensions of this rehabilitation tool should always be considered.…”

A bibliometric analysis study of blood flow restriction using CiteSpace

“…It also allows us to be able to analyse historical literature on the subject and related research based on prior analysis 23 ) . CiteSpace is widely used in more than sixty fields, including computer science, information science and medicine to identify recent scientific research 24 , 25 ) . This paper uses CiteSpace 5.6, which is relatively stable and new at present, as our data analysis research tool to conduct a scientometric analysis in the field of BFR.…”

Experiences of patients who had a stroke and rehabilitation professionals with upper limb rehabilitation robots: a qualitative systematic review protocol

“…11 There is some emerging evidence that rehabilitation robots may improve upper limb function after a stroke. [1][2][3] Studies have compared different types of robots in concluding effectiveness of upper limb function, 8 12 which may explain the varying results between studies that support or negate the effectiveness of upper limb robotic rehabilitation. Mehrholz et al, for example, reported that there is no difference between the types of robots and the improvements in upper limb functional performance in their meta-analysis of robot-assisted upper limb training in patients after a stroke.…”

“…The use of rehabilitation robots has grown over the past few decades,1 particularly for upper limb stroke rehabilitation, and the evidence supporting their use is also increasing 2 3. Several rehabilitation robots are available to assess and augment rehabilitation of stroke-impaired upper limbs under direct or remote supervision, including end effectors4 5 (figures 1 and 2), exoskeletons6 (figure 3) and exosuits7 (figure 4).…”

“…There is some emerging evidence that rehabilitation robots may improve upper limb function after a stroke 1–3. Studies have compared different types of robots in concluding effectiveness of upper limb function,8 12 which may explain the varying results between studies that support or negate the effectiveness of upper limb robotic rehabilitation.…”