A NOVEL DESIGN OF A ROBOTIC GLOVE SYSTEM FOR PATIENTS WITH BRACHIAL PLEXUS INJURIES

This paper presents the design of an exoskeleton glove system for people who suffer from the brachial plexus injuries in an effort to restore their lost grasping functionality. The robotic system consists of an embedded controller and a portable glove system. The glove system consists of Linear Series Elastic Actuators (SEA), Rotary SEA and optimized finger linkages to provide motion to each finger and a coupled motion of the hand and the wrist. The design is based on various functionality requirements such as being lightweight and portable for activities of daily living, especially for grasping. The contact force at each fingertip and bending angle of each finger are measured for future implementation of intelligent control algorithms for autonomous grasping. To provide better flexibility and comfort for the users, abduction and adduction of each finger as well as flexion of the thumb were taken into consideration in the design. The glove system is adjustable for different hand sizes. The micro-controllers and batteries are integrated on the forearm in order to provide a completely portable design solution.