Artificial intelligence and wearable technologies for upper limb neurorehabilitation

Non-invasive neural interfaces (NIs) are increasingly investigated in upper limb neurorehabilitation, where they exploit biosignals, such as electroencephalography (EEG) and electromyography (EMG), to decode motor intentions using artificial intelligence (AI). Yet, traditional systems are complex and difficult to use outside the clinic. Wearable devices have the potential for innovative neurorehabilitation solutions thanks to their comfort, easy-to-use and long-term monitoring. However, current AI approaches require adaptation to the technical constraints of wearable devices, and the related state-of-the-art is not clearly explained and summarized. In this work, a systematic literature review on 51 studies was conducted analyzing them according to five important concepts: biosignals, wearables, AI-driven methods, upper limb rehabilitation, and clinical applications. The review highlights methodological heterogeneity, a variety of wearable sensor configurations, and open challenges related to accuracy, robustness, and clinical validation. Finally, we discuss how explainable AI (XAI) and generative AI (GenAI) may contribute to improve the interpretability and personalization of future neurorehabilitation systems.