A technical report on a novel robotic lower limb rehabilitation device - Is ROBERT® a cost-effective solution for rehabilitation in Hong Kong?
Alan Chan
PMID 37560169WHAT IT FOUND
This report estimates that a Danish lower-limb robot costs less per hour to run than a physiotherapist.
It assumes the robot replicates the therapist's movement exactly, so it claims no clinical benefit or patient outcome improvement.
Key findings
01The robot's hourly operating cost is estimated at HK$175.92, compared to HK$269.23 for a physiotherapist's hourly salary.
02The analysis assumes the robot and the physiotherapist have identical effectiveness because the robot simply replicates the exercise path performed by the therapist.
03The author is an employee of a company that distributes the robot.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
This is not a clinical study. No patients were recruited, and no outcomes were measured. The cost-effectiveness analysis assumes the robot and the physiotherapist are equally effective because the robot copies the therapist's movement. This assumption is not tested with patient data. The author works for a company that sells the robot, which is a significant conflict of interest. The report discusses setup time (10-15 minutes) but does not quantify how much time is actually saved for the therapist in a real-world clinical workflow.
Declared interests
The author is an employee of a distributor company for ROBERT®.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the lower hourly cost as evidence that the robot produces better patient outcomes. The paper assumes the robot is just as effective as a therapist because it copies the therapist's movement, but it did not measure any patient results to prove this.