Hiwin robots extend therapist reach amid rehab staff shortage

Patients are held upright at the pelvis and knees to practise early walking recovery.

Taiwan’s shortage of rehabilitation therapists is increasing interest in robotic systems that can help patients complete repeated walking exercises whilst reducing the amount of manual support required from staff.

In an interview during the Medical Taiwan 2026, Aileen Lin, a Sales Representative in the Project Department at Hiwin Technologies Corp., said that many rehabilitation units do not have enough therapists to provide continuous one-to-one training for every patient.

“We are now facing a manpower shortage in rehabilitation departments,” Lin said. “Usually, we do not have so many therapists in a department, so we cannot take care of all the patients.”

Robotic training systems can help extend limited therapist capacity by guiding patients through structured exercises while clinicians oversee their progress. The technology is intended to support rehabilitation teams rather than replace clinical assessment.

Hiwin’s new-generation system holds patients upright by securing the pelvis and knees, allowing them to practise weight-bearing and walking movements during the earlier stages of recovery.

The system can also deliver repeated walking exercises at a higher frequency than may be possible through manual assistance alone. Lin said this could reduce the physical burden on therapists whilst giving patients more opportunities to practise movement.

Over the next three years, rehabilitation robots may also make greater use of patient data to shape training programmes. Lin said future systems could use basic patient information and records from previous sessions to recommend suitable exercises and intensity levels.

“In the future, we can imagine that if we key in the patient’s basic information, the robot will directly customise the training programme for them,” she said.

Any automated programme would still require therapist review, particularly when adjusting exercise intensity, tracking pain or fatigue and deciding when a patient is ready to progress.