title: The Three Laws of Neurorobotics: A Review on What Neurorehabilitation Robots Should Do for Patients and Clinicians.
abstract: Most studies and reviews on robots for neurorehabilitation focus on their effectiveness. These studies often report inconsistent results. This and many other reasons limit the credit given to these robots by therapists and patients. Further, neurorehabilitation is often still based on therapists' expertise, with competition among different schools of thought, generating substantial uncertainty about what exactly a neurorehabilitation robot should do. Little attention has been given to ethics. This review adopts a new approach, inspired by Asimov's three laws of robotics and based on the most recent studies in neurorobotics, for proposing new guidelines for designing and using robots for neurorehabilitation. We propose three laws of neurorobotics based on the ethical need for safe and effective robots, the redefinition of their role as therapist helpers, and the need for clear and transparent human-machine interfaces. These laws may allow engineers and clinicians to work closely together on a new generation of neurorobots.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Laboratory of Experimental Neurorehabilitation, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Via Ardeatina 306, 00179 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iosa
authors.affiliation: Clinical Laboratory of Experimental Neurorehabilitation, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Via Ardeatina 306, 00179 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Morone
authors.affiliation: CNRS-UM LIRMM UMR 5506, IDH group, 161 Rue Ada, 34392 Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cherubini
authors.affiliation: Clinical Laboratory of Experimental Neurorehabilitation, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Via Ardeatina 306, 00179 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Paolucci
keywords: Ethics; Medical robots; Neuroscience; Rehabilitation; Robotic training