A Preliminary Study to Design and Evaluate Pneumatically Controlled Soft Robotic Actuators for a Repetitive Hand...

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Rehabilitation Robotics
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Stroke-induced cortical infarction frequently causes isolated hand paresis, limiting finger flexion and extension.
• Current soft robotic glove designs exist, but a unique self-actuating therapy solution is needed.
• Restoring hand function is critical for stroke survivors' independence and quality of life.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and evaluate a novel soft robotic glove design for self-actuated hand therapy in post-stroke individuals.
• To assess the glove's efficacy in assisting finger flexion and re-extension.
• To investigate the impact of a resistive steel layer on glove performance.

Main Methods:

• Development of a unique soft robotic glove incorporating a resistive flexible steel layer for self-actuation.
• Pneumatic assisted flexion trials to measure finger extension range.
• Passive assisted testing on 10 human participants to evaluate active finger flexion range and blocked tip force.

Main Results:

• Consistently achieved average peak flexion of 75° or greater for each finger during pneumatic assisted flexion.
• Participants achieved 80.75% (steel-lined) and 87.07% (unlined) of normal active finger flexion range during passive assisted testing.
• The addition of the steel layer reduced blocked tip force by an average of 18.13% across all five fingers.

Conclusions:

• The novel soft robotic glove demonstrates significant potential for assisting hand function recovery after stroke.
• The design facilitates self-actuated therapy, enabling users to regain active finger flexion and extension.
• Further human subject testing is warranted to validate the glove's therapeutic benefits for post-stroke hand impairments.