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Topic · Biomedical Engineering

Prosthetics and Rehabilitation Robotics

Prosthetics and Rehabilitation Robotics is a research topic within Biomedical Engineering. Science Explorer counts 25k research works in it since 1950. 9.8% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the advancements in lower limb exoskeleton robotics, including topics such as exoskeleton design, control strategies, rehabilitation applications, biomechanics of gait, and prosthetic orthoses. The research covers a wide range of areas related to the development and application of robotic devices for lower limb assistance and rehabilitation.

  • Exoskeletons
  • Lower Limb
  • Robotics
  • Rehabilitation
  • Prosthetics
  • Actuators
  • Gait
  • Control
  • Orthoses
  • Biomechanics
Research works
25k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
2.5k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.8%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+25%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
32% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Prosthetics and Rehabilitation Robotics

Which countries lead Prosthetics and Rehabilitation Robotics research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (1.8k and 1.4k works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 1.8k works
  2. 2 United States 1.4k works
  3. 3 Japan 505 works
  4. 4 India 395 works
  5. 5 Italy 335 works
  6. 6 United Kingdom 313 works
  7. 7 Germany 276 works
  8. 8 South Korea 265 works
  9. 9 Canada 195 works
  10. 10 France 146 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 32.3%United States: 24.6%Japan: 8.9%India: 7.0%6 others listed: 27.1%32%largest
China1,827 · 32.3%United States1,392 · 24.6%Japan505 · 8.9%India395 · 7.0%6 others listed1,529 · 27.1%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Prosthetics and Rehabilitation Robotics research?

By volume in 2022-now, Chinese Academy of Sciences publishes the most Prosthetics and Rehabilitation Robotics research, followed by Harbin Institute of Technology and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 85 works
  2. 2 Harbin Institute of TechnologyChina 77 works
  3. 3 Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina 46 works
  4. 4 Beihang UniversityChina 41 works
  5. 5 University of MichiganUnited States 41 works
  6. 6 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 40 works
  7. 7 Italian Institute of TechnologyItaly 38 works
  8. 8 Beijing Institute of TechnologyChina 38 works
  9. 9 Zhejiang UniversityChina 32 works
  10. 10 The University of TokyoJapan 31 works

Who are the leading researchers in Prosthetics and Rehabilitation Robotics?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Prosthetics and Rehabilitation Robotics include Rob Knight and Luigi Ferrucci.

  1. 1 Rob Knight United States 468k citations
  2. 2 Luigi Ferrucci United States 281k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Prosthetics and Rehabilitation Robotics?

The most cited paper in Prosthetics and Rehabilitation Robotics is "OpenSim: Open-Source Software to Create and Analyze Dynamic Simulations of Movement" (Scott L. Delp, Frank C. Anderson, Allison S. Arnold et al., 2007), with 5,097 citations. Next come "Lower Extremity Function and Subsequent Disability: Consistency Across Studies, Predictive Models, and Value of Gait Speed Alone Compared With the Short Physical Performance Battery" (2,948) and "Estimating the Prevalence of Limb Loss in the United States: 2005 to 2050" (2,841).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 OpenSim: Open-Source Software to Create and Analyze Dynamic Simulations of Movement Scott L. Delp, Frank C. Anderson, Allison S. Arnold et al. · IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering 23 Oct 2007 5,097
2 Lower Extremity Function and Subsequent Disability: Consistency Across Studies, Predictive Models, and Value of Gait Speed Alone Compared With the Short Physical Performance Battery Jack M. Guralnik, Luigi Ferrucci, Carl F. Pieper et al. · The Journals of Gerontology Series A Open access Apr 2000 2,948
3 Estimating the Prevalence of Limb Loss in the United States: 2005 to 2050 Kathryn Ziegler‐Graham, Ellen J. MacKenzie, Patti L. Ephraim et al. · Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Open access Mar 2008 2,841
4 Series elastic actuators Gill A. Pratt, Matthew M. Williamson Conference paper 19 Nov 2002 2,220
5 Biped walking pattern generation by using preview control of zero-moment point Shuuji Kajita, Fumio Kanehiro, Kenji Kaneko et al. Conference paper Mar 2004 2,118
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Prosthetics and Rehabilitation Robotics research done?

The largest centres of Prosthetics and Rehabilitation Robotics research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Tokyo (Japan), Shanghai (China) and Seoul (South Korea). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Genoa and Enschede.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 326 works
  2. 2 TokyoJapan 172 works
  3. 3 ShanghaiChina 162 works
  4. 4 SeoulSouth Korea 123 works
  5. 5 NanjingChina 96 works
  6. 6 TianjinChina 96 works
  7. 7 HarbinChina 92 works
  8. 8 LondonUnited Kingdom 83 works
  9. 9 HangzhouChina 83 works
  10. 10 ShenzhenChina 82 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. GenoaIT · 50.2 works12×
  2. EnschedeNL · 21.3 works8.3×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Prosthetics and Rehabilitation Robotics than the world average.

See Prosthetics and Rehabilitation Robotics on the map

Where is the best place to study Prosthetics and Rehabilitation Robotics?

Among universities, judged by research, National University of Singapore, Harvard University and University of Michigan score highest, combining citation excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 21.03%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →National University …Harvard UniversitySouthern University …University of Michigan
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Citation excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1National University of SingaporeSingapore 71.830.7%3.2×26 +64.3%
2Harvard UniversityUnited States 67.118.5%1.3×27 +19.6%
3University of MichiganUnited States 64.111.9%3.9×41 +33.2%
4Southern University of Science and TechnologyChina 63.616.7%8.2×29 +202.2%
5ETH ZurichSwitzerland 62.231.9%3.4×16 -30.3%
6Aalborg UniversityDenmark 61.822.7%4.8×18 +14.6%
7Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityChina 61.524.1%2.8×16 +110.4%
8Harbin Institute of TechnologyChina 61.09.4%7.0×77 +19.4%
9Georgia Institute of TechnologyUnited States 56.821.2%6.3×26 -3.9%
10Scuola Superiore Sant'AnnaItaly 55.423.2%28.3×18 -17.9%

Universities only. The score blends citation excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Prosthetics and Rehabilitation Robotics, country by country

Is Prosthetics and Rehabilitation Robotics research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 25% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Prosthetics and Rehabilitation Robotics.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Prosthetics and Rehabilitation Robotics as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.028% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%Prosthetics and Rehabilitation Robotics0.036% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Prosthetics and Rehabilitation Robotics over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Prosthetics and Rehabilitation Robotics9.8% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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