  Robotic systems are increasingly used in rehabilitation to provide high
intensity training for patients with motor impairment. The results of
controlled trials involving human subjects confirm the effectiveness of
robot-enhanced methods and prove them to be marginally superior over standard
manual therapy in some cases. Although very promising, this line of research is
still in its infancy and further studies are required to fully understand the
potential benefits of using robotic devices such as exoskeletons. Exoskeletons
have been widely studied due to their capability in providing more control over
paretic limb as well as the complexities involved in their design and control.
This paper briefly discusses the main challenges in development of
rehabilitation exoskeletons and elaborates more on how some of these issues are
addressed in the design of CLEVERarm, a recently developed upper limb
rehabilitation exoskeleton. The paper is concluded with several remarks on the
current challenges in wide-spread use of exoskeletons in medical facilities,
and a vision for the future of these technologies in rehabilitation medicine.
