{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,18]],"date-time":"2026-06-18T15:28:08Z","timestamp":1781796488568,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,3]],"date-time":"2023-02-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1675382400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Over the last few years, exoskeletons have been demonstrated to be useful tools for supporting the execution of neuromotor rehabilitation sessions. However, they are still not very present in hospitals. Therapists tend to be wary of this type of technology, thus reducing its acceptability and, therefore, its everyday use in clinical practice. The work presented in this paper investigates a novel point of view that is different from that of patients, which is normally what is considered for similar analyses. Through the realization of a technology acceptance model, we investigate the factors that influence the acceptability level of exoskeletons for rehabilitation of the upper limbs from therapists\u2019 perspectives. We analyzed the data collected from a pool of 55 physiotherapists and physiatrists through the distribution of a questionnaire. Pearson\u2019s correlation and multiple linear regression were used for the analysis. The relations between the variables of interest were also investigated depending on participants\u2019 age and experience with technology. The model built from these data demonstrated that the perceived usefulness of a robotic system, in terms of time and effort savings, was the first factor influencing therapists\u2019 willingness to use it. Physiotherapists\u2019 perception of the importance of interacting with an exoskeleton when carrying out an enhanced therapy session increased if survey participants already had experience with this type of rehabilitation technology, while their distrust and the consideration of others\u2019 opinions decreased. The conclusions drawn from our analyses show that we need to invest in making this technology better known to the public\u2014in terms of education and training\u2014if we aim to make exoskeletons genuinely accepted and usable by therapists. In addition, integrating exoskeletons with multi-sensor feedback systems would help provide comprehensive information about the patients\u2019 condition and progress. This can help overcome the gap that a robot creates between a therapist and the patient\u2019s human body, reducing the fear that specialists have of this technology, and this can demonstrate exoskeletons\u2019 utility, thus increasing their perceived level of usefulness.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s23031721","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,6]],"date-time":"2023-02-06T02:06:43Z","timestamp":1675649203000},"page":"1721","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":33,"title":["Technology Acceptance Model for Exoskeletons for Rehabilitation of the Upper Limbs from Therapists\u2019 Perspectives"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"23","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6611-4655","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Beatrice","family":"Luciani","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mechanical Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Via La Masa 1, 20156 Milano, Italy"},{"name":"NeuroEngineering And Medical Robotics Laboratory (NEARLab), Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, 32, 20133 Milano, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0476-4118","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francesco","family":"Braghin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mechanical Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Via La Masa 1, 20156 Milano, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9957-2786","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alessandra Laura Giulia","family":"Pedrocchi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"NeuroEngineering And Medical Robotics Laboratory (NEARLab), Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, 32, 20133 Milano, Italy"},{"name":"WE-COBOT Lab, Politecnico di Milano, Polo Territoriale di Lecco, Via G. Previati, 1\/c, 23900 Lecco, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5237-714X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marta","family":"Gandolla","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mechanical Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Via La Masa 1, 20156 Milano, Italy"},{"name":"NeuroEngineering And Medical Robotics Laboratory (NEARLab), Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, 32, 20133 Milano, Italy"},{"name":"WE-COBOT Lab, Politecnico di Milano, Polo Territoriale di Lecco, Via G. Previati, 1\/c, 23900 Lecco, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"408","DOI":"10.1109\/TMECH.2007.901934","article-title":"Upper-Limb Powered Exoskeleton Design","volume":"12","author":"Perry","year":"2007","journal-title":"Mechatron. IEEE\/ASME Trans."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3649","DOI":"10.1109\/LRA.2019.2926958","article-title":"ANYexo: A Versatile and Dynamic Upper-Limb Rehabilitation Robot","volume":"4","author":"Zimmermann","year":"2019","journal-title":"IEEE Robot. Autom. Lett."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Nef, T., Klamroth-Marganska, V., and Riener, R. (2010). 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