Integrated wearable and self-carrying active upper limb orthosis

Area of Science:

• Robotics and Mechatronics
• Biomedical Engineering
• Rehabilitation Technology

Background:

• Increasing incidence of upper limb dysfunction due to spinal cord injuries, strokes, and other conditions necessitates advanced rehabilitation tools.
• Traditional physiotherapy for upper limb loss involves repetitive manual movements, which can be augmented by automated robotic systems.
• The need for a portable, self-sufficient orthotic system for effective and accessible rehabilitation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a prototype wearable orthotic system for upper limb rehabilitation.
• To design, construct, and implement an automatic control system for the orthosis.
• To evaluate the performance of the orthosis in replicating healthy upper limb movements.

Main Methods:

• Mechanical design and construction of a five-jointed mechatronic upper limb orthosis using 3D plastic printing.
• Integration of electronic instrumentation for control and monitoring.
• Implementation of a robust automatic controller based on sliding-mode theory for precise movement control within angular constraints.

Main Results:

• A lightweight (2.6kg) and wearable upper limb orthosis was successfully developed.
• The sliding-mode controller effectively guided the orthosis's movements according to reference trajectories.
• Testing on 15 volunteers showed a maximum experimental steady-state error of 2% in angular deviation across all joints.

Conclusions:

• The developed 3D-printed upper limb orthosis is a viable and effective tool for rehabilitation.
• The automatic control system ensures accurate and constrained movements, mimicking natural limb motion.
• This technology offers a promising solution for enhancing upper limb functional recovery.