Smart Robotic Exoskeleton: a 3-DOF for Wrist-forearm Rehabilitation (original) (raw)

Robotic Exoskeleton: A Compact, Portable, and Constructing Using 3D Printer Technique for Wrist-Forearm Rehabilitation

Al-Nahrain Journal for Engineering Sciences, 2020

Regaining the activities of daily living after stroke and spinal cord injury requires repetitive and intensive tasks, meaning that rehabilitation therapy should be treated with a long duration. Thus, the need for rehabilitation devices based home is of most importance to increase the rehabilitation process and provide more comfortability for patients. This paper focuses on implementing and construction of a three degree of freedom (DOF) (flexion/extension, adduction/abduction, and pronation/supination), low cost, lightweight, and portable robotic exoskeleton for wrist-forearm rehabilitation. SolidWorks software program and 3D printer technology are used to model and construct the proposed robotic exoskeleton structure. In addition, the anthropometric parameters of the normal human lower arm are considered for this exoskeleton to provide a range of motion (ROM) and velocity for the links, joints, which matches with the anatomical structure of human and also to avoid the excesses moti...

Preliminary Design of a Robotic Exoskeleton for Arm Rehabilitation

Journal of Physics: Conference Series

This research paper presents the design of a low-cost and easy-to-use 2 degree of freedom (DOF) robotic exoskeleton for arm rehabilitation. The developed exoskeleton consists of a 2 DOF robotic arm attached on a chair. Force sensitive resistors are also utilized in the design of the device to measure muscles activities during rehabilitation process. Kinovea software is used to analyse the performance of the patient during exercise via video capture. The measured data hopefully can assist physicians and caregivers in designing suitable rehabilitation process for stroke patient. The proposed design provides a novel tool towards upper limb stroke rehabilitation process. Although there are many exoskeleton robotics arms which are commercially available, however, due to the disadvantages such as weight, high-cost and complex mechanisms, this paper proposed new ideas on solving these problems by designing an exoskeleton which is functional, low-cost and users friendly

EXPRO: exoskeleton for rehabilitation of upper limb

Visión electrónica

In the upper limb rehabilitation field, assisting to various patients per day, in different kinds of therapies is an exhausting task which can be achieved in a semiautomated or automated manner. The ExPro is an exoskeleton of 3 degrees of freedom designed and created to support rehabilitation treatments for patients with little or no mobility in their arms. The device consists in a machine able to move forearm and wrist according to prone-supination, ulnar and radial deflection and flex-extension of wrist movements. The proposed prototype was designed to assist therapists in the first step of rehabilitation treatments, thus, passive therapies. Each mechanical component was designed in the Inventor 3D software and printed on PLA materials (polylactic acid). The controlling step is a Raspberry Pi 3 that receives information, interprets and connects power, and control PCBs. The design and calculations were tasted with the finite elements tool of inventor software. The work result pres...

An Exoskeleton Robot for Human Forearm and Wrist Motion Assist

2008

The exoskeleton robot is worn by the human operator as an orthotic device. Its joints and links correspond to those of the human body. The same system operated in different modes can be used for different fundamental applications; a human-amplifier, haptic interface, rehabilitation device and assistive device sharing a portion of the external load with the operator. We have been developing exoskeleton robots for assisting the motion of physically weak individuals such as elderly or slightly disabled in daily life. In this paper, we propose a three degree of freedom (3DOF) exoskeleton robot (W-EXOS) for the forearm pronation/ supination motion, wrist flexion/extension motion and ulnar/radial deviation. The paper describes the wrist anatomy toward the development of the exoskeleton robot, the hardware design of the exoskeleton robot and EMG-based control method. The skin surface electromyographic (EMG) signals of muscles in forearm of the exoskeletons' user and the hand force/forearm torque are used as input information for the controller. By applying the skin surface EMG signals as main input signals to the controller, automatic control of the robot can be realized without manipulating any other equipment. Fuzzy control method has been applied to realize the natural and flexible motion assist. Experiments have been performed to evaluate the proposed exoskeleton robot and its control method.

Robotic Exoskeleton for Wrist and Fingers Joint in Post-Stroke Neuro-Rehabilitation for Low-Resource Settings

IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, 2019

Robots have the potential to help provide exercise therapy in a repeatable and reproducible manner for stroke survivors. To facilitate rehabilitation of the wrist and fingers joint, an electromechanical exoskeleton was developed that simultaneously moves the wrist and metacarpophalangeal joints. The device was designed for the ease of manufacturing and maintenance, with specific considerations for countries with limited resources. Active participation of the user is ensured by the implementation of electromyographic control and visual feedback of performance. Muscle activity requirements, movement parameters, range of motion, and speed of the device can all be customized to meet the needs of the user. Twelve stroke survivors, ranging from the subacute to chronic phases of recovery (mean 10.6 months poststroke) participated in a pilot study with the device. Participants completed 20 sessions, each lasting 45 minutes. Overall, subjects exhibited statistically significant changes (p < 0.05) in clinical outcome measures following the treatment, with the Fugl-Meyer Stroke Assessment score for the upper extremity increasing from 36 to 50 and the Barthel Index increasing from 74 to 89. Active range of wrist motion increased by 19° while spasticity decreased from 1.75 to 1.29 on the Modified Ashworth Scale. Thus, this device shows promise for improving rehabilitation outcomes, especially for patients in countries with limited resources.

Development and Control of Hand Exoskeleton System Using Intended Movement

2021 IEEE 3rd Eurasia Conference on Biomedical Engineering, Healthcare and Sustainability (ECBIOS), 2021

Hand motor impairment is a common disability among stroke survivors that severely affect their ability in activities of daily livings (ADLs), reducing independence and quality of life. Throughout the rehabilitation process, stroke patients able to regain partially or fully the hand motor function. However, the conventional rehabilitation process is limited by the insufficient number of therapists, labor-intensiveness, and low compliance. The objective of this study was to support the rehabilitation process and ADLs through the development of the Flexible Linkage Hand Exoskeleton Rehabilitation Robot (FLEXOR), a five fingers 3D printed prototype actuated by linear actuators. FLEXOR was controlled using intended movement to support the independent exercises and to assist the ADLs movement. An Arduino-based control system driven by electromyography (EMG) signal was developed for FLEXOR. The new control system protected the hand against over-flexing and excessive application of force. The control system was programmed into three different operating modes which enable FLEXOR to provide passive exercises to the fingers, assist fingers in ADLs movement with minimal efforts, and provide active exercises while assisting fingers in ADLs.

Mechanical design of a distal arm exoskeleton for stroke and spinal cord injury rehabilitation

IEEE ... International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics : [proceedings], 2011

Robotic rehabilitation has gained significant traction in recent years, due to the clinical demonstration of its efficacy in restoring function for upper extremity movements and locomotor skills, demonstrated primarily in stroke populations. In this paper, we present the design of MAHI Exo II, a robotic exoskeleton for the rehabilitation of upper extremity after stroke, spinal cord injury, or other brain injuries. The five degree-of-freedom robot enables elbow flexion-extension, forearm pronation-supination, wrist flexion-extension, and radial-ulnar deviation. The device offers several significant design improvements compared to its predecessor, MAHI Exo I. Specifically, issues with backlash and singularities in the wrist mechanism have been resolved, torque output has been increased in the forearm and elbow joints, a passive degree of freedom has been added to allow shoulder abduction thereby improving alignment especially for users who are wheelchair-bound, and the hardware now en...

Stroke rehabilitation using exoskeleton-based robotic exercisers: Mini Review

Stroke is a debilitating disease that has afflicted millions of people throughout the world. Assisting physiotherapists in post-stroke activities to conduct rehabilitation therapies, scientific community has presented a new type of man-machine intelligent systems i.e. exoskeleton based exercisers. These devices help the patients having neurological disabilities to partially or fully regain their motor performance by applying forces to the affected finger phalanx and preventing unsuitable motion patterns. The exoskeletons because of their wide range of sensory capabilities have replaced traditional assessment of stroke patients. This article reviews developments in robotic prosthetics and exoskeletons. The primary design requirements of these devices are identified. Highlighting the authors' research achievements in this domain, a collection of exoskeleton-based hand rehabilitation devices has been then presented with a brief description about their mechanical designs. Finally, a...

Development and Control of a Robotic Exoskeleton for Shoulder, Elbow and Forearm Movement Assistance

Applied Bionics and Biomechanics, 2012

World health organization reports, annually more than 15 million people worldwide suffer a stroke and cardiovascular disease, among which 85% of stroke patients incur acute arm impairment, and 40% of victims are chronically impaired or permanently disabled. This results a burden on the families, communities and to the country as well. Rehabilitation programs are the main way to promote functional recovery in these individuals. Since the number of such cases is constantly growing and that the duration of treatment is long, an intelligent robot could significantly contribute to the success of these programs. We therefore developed a new 5DoFs robotic exoskeleton namedMARSE-5 (motion assistive robotic-exoskeleton for superior extremity) that supposed to be worn on the lateral side of upper arm to rehabilitate and ease the shoulder, elbow and forearm movements. This paper focused on the design, modeling, development and control of the proposedMARSE-5. To control the exoskeleton, a nonli...