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Rehabilitation robotics is a young discipline that will become an imperative when the age of the population will keep rising. The orthopaedic rehabilitation of the elbow joint poses some interesting challenges. The elbow joint itself has some particular characteristics that render the rehabilitation process different from others. The mechanical design of the developed powered elbow orthosis using MACCEPA (Mechanically Adjustable Compliance and Controllable Equilibrium Position Actuator) actuators will be briefly discussed, as well as the mathematical model of the system. The device will have three separate modes, one for each successive stage of the rehabilitation process: the passive, the active and the interactive mode. The passive mode will mainly be used during early rehabilitation. The device will completely induce the movement and the patient will not have to exert any force, cfr. continuous passive motion machines (CPM's). The patient remains passive. During the interactive mode, the patient will try to complete a movement. The device is equipped with several rotative position sensors and therefore will register when a patients' movement deviates too far from the movement that should be induced, i.e. when the angle between the two bodies deviates too much from the angle between the left body and the lever arm. When it is registered that the patient needs some help, the device will assist. The active mode will mostly be used towards the end of the rehabilitation process to train muscle strength. In this mode, the device will counteract the movement the patient tries to make. In this mode, the device can be compared to a training tool that generates resistance which the patient has to overcome. Due to the adaptable compliance of the MACCEPA and the force control strategy, an ideal force and/or resistance pattern can be applied. Both equilibrium position and compliance can be adjusted online.