Daniel H. Wilson

Robotics for Recovery’s mission is to change the quality of life for individuals with disabilities through the creation and development of robotic technologies.

Robotics for Rehabilitation, LLC (RfR) is an agile and responsive company focused on effective and affordable innovative in the area of neurological rehabilitation.   RfR stemmed from the practice and experience of over 40 years of clinical neurological rehabilitation expertise and a driving desire to bring the power of robotics the clinical experience of all neurological patients.  

RfR was founded by Valerie Gibson, PT, DPT.   For over 40 years, Dr. Gibson has maintained a practice focused exclusively on the neurological rehabilitation of patients with neurological diseases and injuries. In her years of clinical experience, Dr. Gibson has seen first hand the benefits of robotics in her practice, as well as their limited adoption in most areas of traditional neurological rehabilitation.  RfR was founded to change this by pioneering effective and affordable robotic solutions that could be applied safely and easily for the benefit of neurological rehabilitation patients.

The engineering team at RfR has successfully developed multiple robotic solutions that have been implemented in clinical practice.  These include affordable robotic steppers that have seen thousands of hours of clinical use, upper limb robotic assistance devices, mechanized mobility devices, functional electrical simulation integration tools, and wheelchair-use training motion platforms.   

Robotics for Rehabilitation is located in Northern Virginia.

gibsonrobotics@gmail.com 

The Robo Tram gait trainer is a partial weight bearing system that moves a patient’s legs in a natural walking pattern. This technology provides a safe, intensive, and repetitive stepping therapy using body weight support. Strong scientific evidence indicates that robotic gait training results in significantly better improvements in walking ability, walking speed, and lower extremity strength.

The wheelchair trainer is able to replicate in a stationary therapy environment the use of a wheelchair on varied terrain and under various conditions. This technology enables the therapist to gauge, measure, and track patient performance and progress in the wheelchair. It is particularly beneficial to new wheelchair users because it allows them to safely experience in a stationary setting the full range of grade, surface shape, and conditions encountered in the real world. The trainer also provides specific electrical assistance for muscle activation to improve performance and foster patient capability development.

Robotics currently has built a working prototype of the gait trainer and has designed a model of the wheelchair trainer. Due to a lack of funding caused by the pandemic and its aftermath, Robotics has been unable to maintain its staff of engineers and other personnel to complete the work in progress on these two technologies. Therefore, donations are needed to fund these projects to their completion. All donations will be used to rehire staff and to pay for essential parts for constructing these innovative robotic devices.

 © Robotics for Recovery, LLC