Wearable exoskeleton upper limb device based on soft actuators: design, characterization, and preliminary testing

Area of Science:

• Robotics
• Rehabilitation Engineering
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Stroke frequently causes upper limb motor deficits, necessitating effective rehabilitation strategies.
• Wearable robotic exoskeletons offer promising solutions for motor recovery, but often lack comfort and adaptability.
• Soft robotics presents an opportunity to develop more compliant and user-friendly assistive devices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a wearable soft robotic exoskeleton for upper limb motor recovery in stroke patients.
• To explore the integration and performance of different soft actuator types for multi-joint assistance.
• To assess the force and range of motion capabilities of the developed soft actuators for rehabilitation.

Main Methods:

• Development of a multi-joint wearable exoskeleton using soft materials and textiles.
• Integration and analysis of three distinct soft actuator types: bellows-type textile actuators, McKibben artificial muscles, and PneuNets multisegment actuators (MSA).
• Numerical and experimental methods were employed to characterize actuator force and range of motion, alongside a closed-loop control system.

Main Results:

• Soft actuators generated sufficient force for effective stroke recovery training.
• Preliminary range of motion analysis indicated errors between 2.29% and 10.5% for various joint movements.
• The compact, lightweight design ensures comfort for prolonged use during rehabilitation.

Conclusions:

• The developed soft robotic exoskeleton demonstrates potential for upper limb motor recovery in stroke patients.
• The integrated soft actuators provide adequate force and acceptable range of motion for rehabilitation exercises.
• Future work will focus on clinical trials with stroke patients and enhancing device portability.