Design of a thumb exoskeleton for hand rehabilitation

Exoskeletons for hand rehabilitation typically focus on finger flexion-extension and do not support thumb-finger opposition, a crucial function for object grasping. This work presents the mechanical design, implementation and preliminary evaluation of a novel portable thumb exoskeleton to assist thumb opposition movements in the context of activities of daily living. A usability study with 12 healthy subjects demonstrated that the exoskeleton was comfortable, easy to don and provided a natural opposition motion while generating forces of up to 10 N at the tip of the thumb and weighing less than 150 g. This proof of concept is a first step towards the development of portable hand rehabilitation systems to be used for home-based therapy and assistance.

[1]  S. K. Wee,et al.  Effects of a robot-assisted training of grasp and pronation/supination in chronic stroke: a pilot study , 2011, Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation.

[2]  K. Y. Tong,et al.  An EMG-driven exoskeleton hand robotic training device on chronic stroke subjects: Task training system for stroke rehabilitation , 2011, 2011 IEEE International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics.

[3]  Ian M. Bullock,et al.  Assessing assumptions in kinematic hand models: A review , 2012, 2012 4th IEEE RAS & EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics (BioRob).

[4]  R. L. Linscheid,et al.  The kinesiology of the thumb trapeziometacarpal joint. , 1981, The Journal of bone and joint surgery. American volume.

[5]  P. Raghavan,et al.  The nature of hand motor impairment after stroke and its treatment , 2007, Current treatment options in cardiovascular medicine.

[6]  S. Bunnell.  OPPOSITION OF THE THUMB , 1938 .

[7]  Jumpei Arata,et al.  A new hand exoskeleton device for rehabilitation using a three-layered sliding spring mechanism , 2013, 2013 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[8]  Haruhisa Kawasaki,et al.  Development of a Hand-Assist Robot With Multi-Degrees-of-Freedom for Rehabilitation Therapy , 2012, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics.

[9]  H. Kawasaki,et al.  Development of a Hand Motion Assist Robot for Rehabilitation Therapy by Patient Self-Motion Control , 2007, 2007 IEEE 10th International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics.

[10]  Conor J. Walsh,et al.  A pediatric robotic thumb exoskeleton for at-home rehabilitation: The isolated orthosis for thumb actuation (IOTA) , 2014, Int. J. Intell. Comput. Cybern..

[11]  F. Su,et al.  The three-dimensional analysis of three thumb joints coordination in activities of daily living. , 2011, Clinical biomechanics.

[12]  Rahsaan J. Holley,et al.  Robotic Approaches for Rehabilitation of Hand Function After Stroke , 2012, American journal of physical medicine & rehabilitation.

[13]  L. M. Myers,et al.  The axes of rotation of the thumb carpometacarpal joint , 1992, Journal of orthopaedic research : official publication of the Orthopaedic Research Society.

[14]  D. Reinkensmeyer,et al.  Technologies and combination therapies for enhancing movement training for people with a disability , 2012, Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation.

[15]  E. Chao,et al.  Biomechanical analysis of static forces in the thumb during hand function. , 1977, The Journal of bone and joint surgery. American volume.

[16]  Conor J. Walsh,et al.  A pediatric robotic thumb exoskeleton for at-home rehabilitation: The Isolated Orthosis for Thumb Actuation (IOTA) , 2013, 2013 IEEE 13th International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR).

[17]  Soo-Jin Lee,et al.  Current hand exoskeleton technologies for rehabilitation and assistive engineering , 2012 .

[18]  C Pylatiuk,et al.  ["Bionic" arm prostheses. State of the art in research and development]. , 2006, Der Orthopade.