Abstract:Impairments of fingers, wrist, and hand forearm result in significant hand movement deficiencies and daily task performance. Most of the existing rehabilitation assistive robots mainly focus on either the wrist training or fingers, and they are limiting the natural motion; many mechanical parts associated with the patient’s arms, heavy and expensive. This paper presented the design and development of a new, cost-efficient Finger and wrist rehabilitation mechatronics system (FWRMS) suitable for either hand righ… Show more
“…In recent years, as a type of hand rehabilitation robot, hand exoskeleton has attracted extensive research attention. The commonly used exoskeleton-assisted rehabilitation training method, continuous passive motion (CPM) training ( Almusawi and Husi, 2021 ; Nasrallah et al, 2021 ), involving repetitive tasks such as grasping a water bottle, can provide sensorimotor feedback during the process and has been shown to be effective in hand motor function improvements ( Li et al, 2021 ).…”
IntroductionProviding stimulation enhancements to existing hand rehabilitation training methods may help stroke survivors achieve better treatment outcomes. This paper presents a comparison study to explore the stimulation enhancement effects of the combination of exoskeleton-assisted hand rehabilitation and fingertip haptic stimulation by analyzing behavioral data and event-related potentials.MethodsThe stimulation effects of the touch sensations created by a water bottle and that created by cutaneous fingertip stimulation with pneumatic actuators are also investigated. Fingertip haptic stimulation was combined with exoskeleton-assisted hand rehabilitation while the haptic stimulation was synchronized with the motion of our hand exoskeleton. In the experiments, three experimental modes, including exoskeleton-assisted grasping motion without haptic stimulation (Mode 1), exoskeleton-assisted grasping motion with haptic stimulation (Mode 2), and exoskeleton-assisted grasping motion with a water bottle (Mode 3), were compared.ResultsThe behavioral analysis results showed that the change of experimental modes had no significant effect on the recognition accuracy of stimulation levels (p = 0.658), while regarding the response time, exoskeleton-assisted grasping motion with haptic stimulation was the same as grasping a water bottle (p = 0.441) but significantly different from that without haptic stimulation (p = 0.006). The analysis of event-related potentials showed that the primary motor cortex, premotor cortex, and primary somatosensory areas of the brain were more activated when both the hand motion assistance and fingertip haptic feedback were provided using our proposed method (P300 amplitude 9.46 μV). Compared to only applying exoskeleton-assisted hand motion, the P300 amplitude was significantly improved by providing both exoskeleton-assisted hand motion and fingertip haptic stimulation (p = 0.006), but no significant differences were found between any other two modes (Mode 2 vs. Mode 3: p = 0.227, Mode 1 vs. Mode 3: p = 0.918). Different modes did not significantly affect the P300 latency (p = 0.102). Stimulation intensity had no effect on the P300 amplitude (p = 0.295, 0.414, 0.867) and latency (p = 0.417, 0.197, 0.607).DiscussionThus, we conclude that combining exoskeleton-assisted hand motion and fingertip haptic stimulation provided stronger stimulation on the motor cortex and somatosensory cortex of the brain simultaneously; the stimulation effects of the touch sensations created by a water bottle and that created by cutaneous fingertip stimulation with pneumatic actuators are similar.
“…In recent years, as a type of hand rehabilitation robot, hand exoskeleton has attracted extensive research attention. The commonly used exoskeleton-assisted rehabilitation training method, continuous passive motion (CPM) training ( Almusawi and Husi, 2021 ; Nasrallah et al, 2021 ), involving repetitive tasks such as grasping a water bottle, can provide sensorimotor feedback during the process and has been shown to be effective in hand motor function improvements ( Li et al, 2021 ).…”
IntroductionProviding stimulation enhancements to existing hand rehabilitation training methods may help stroke survivors achieve better treatment outcomes. This paper presents a comparison study to explore the stimulation enhancement effects of the combination of exoskeleton-assisted hand rehabilitation and fingertip haptic stimulation by analyzing behavioral data and event-related potentials.MethodsThe stimulation effects of the touch sensations created by a water bottle and that created by cutaneous fingertip stimulation with pneumatic actuators are also investigated. Fingertip haptic stimulation was combined with exoskeleton-assisted hand rehabilitation while the haptic stimulation was synchronized with the motion of our hand exoskeleton. In the experiments, three experimental modes, including exoskeleton-assisted grasping motion without haptic stimulation (Mode 1), exoskeleton-assisted grasping motion with haptic stimulation (Mode 2), and exoskeleton-assisted grasping motion with a water bottle (Mode 3), were compared.ResultsThe behavioral analysis results showed that the change of experimental modes had no significant effect on the recognition accuracy of stimulation levels (p = 0.658), while regarding the response time, exoskeleton-assisted grasping motion with haptic stimulation was the same as grasping a water bottle (p = 0.441) but significantly different from that without haptic stimulation (p = 0.006). The analysis of event-related potentials showed that the primary motor cortex, premotor cortex, and primary somatosensory areas of the brain were more activated when both the hand motion assistance and fingertip haptic feedback were provided using our proposed method (P300 amplitude 9.46 μV). Compared to only applying exoskeleton-assisted hand motion, the P300 amplitude was significantly improved by providing both exoskeleton-assisted hand motion and fingertip haptic stimulation (p = 0.006), but no significant differences were found between any other two modes (Mode 2 vs. Mode 3: p = 0.227, Mode 1 vs. Mode 3: p = 0.918). Different modes did not significantly affect the P300 latency (p = 0.102). Stimulation intensity had no effect on the P300 amplitude (p = 0.295, 0.414, 0.867) and latency (p = 0.417, 0.197, 0.607).DiscussionThus, we conclude that combining exoskeleton-assisted hand motion and fingertip haptic stimulation provided stronger stimulation on the motor cortex and somatosensory cortex of the brain simultaneously; the stimulation effects of the touch sensations created by a water bottle and that created by cutaneous fingertip stimulation with pneumatic actuators are similar.
“…A Continuous Passive Motion (CPM) focusing on the fingers and wrist joints was developed by Almusawi and Geza [19] and Almusawi et al [20]. The proposed machine was cost-efficient and can be used by both right and left arms.…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Its structure is based on the grounded-exoskeleton concept, and it is able to realize the flexion and extension movements of the fingers and radial and ulnar deviation of the wrist. The mechanism was built using a lead screw and a dual-sided actuator [19]. Fu et al [21] developed a CPM machine that is portable.…”
Continuous Passive Machines (CPM) facilitate patients in eliminating joint stiffness after surgery and lead to a faster and more efficient recovery. However, many previous CPM machined are mechanically complicated, expensive, and lack a user interface. This paper presents a new CPM machine for elbow flexion-extension and forearm pronation-supination. The machine is simple, low-cost, and equipped with Graphical User Interface (GUI). Its mechanism is designed so that it can be used on the left or right arms interchangeably. It is developed using aluminum, perspex, and steel rods. The electrical part of the machine consists of Arduino Uno to drive the motors and a potentiometer to measure the patients’ Range of Motion (ROM). The GUI for setting the exercise parameters and monitoring the patients’ progress has been developed using MATLAB software. The experimental results show that the machine has successfully provided the repetitive desired motions. The machine realizes elbow flexion-extension and forearm pronation-supination movements with 0ᵒ-135ᵒ and 0ᵒ-90ᵒ ranges of motion (ROM), respectively. The machine is also capable of increasing the elbow joint’s ROM by 5ᵒ increments for the therapy. The results show that the machine has the potential to be used in hospitals and rehabilitation centers.
“…The end-effector type devices for hand rehabilitation must remain stationary, and the patient is required to place the affected hand onto the device to receive the treatment. Endeffector/endpoint devices for hand rehabilitation [32][33][34] are mechanisms that act on the distal tip of fingers propagating motion to DIP, PIP, and MCP joints. These devices can accommodate a variety of hand sizes, but isolated finger movement cannot be achieved effectively.…”
Home-based hand rehabilitation has excellent potential as it may reduce patient dropouts due to travel, transportation, and insurance constraints. Being able to perform exercises precisely, accurately, and in a repetitive manner, robot-aided portable devices have gained much traction these days in hand rehabilitation. However, existing devices fall short in allowing some key natural movements, which are crucial to achieving full potential motion in performing activities of daily living. Firstly, existing exoskeleton type devices often restrict or suffer from uncontrolled wrist and forearm movement during finger exercises due to their setup of actuation and transmission mechanism. Secondly, they restrict passive metacarpophalangeal (MCP) abduction–adduction during MCP flexion–extension motion. Lastly, though a few of them can provide isolated finger ROM, none of them can offer isolated joint motion as per therapeutic need. All these natural movements are crucial for effective robot-aided finger rehabilitation. To bridge these gaps, in this research, a novel lightweight robotic device, namely “Flexohand,” has been developed for hand rehabilitation. A novel compliant mechanism has been developed and included in Flexohand to compensate for the passive movement of MCP abduction–adduction. The isolated and composite digit joint flexion–extension has been achieved by integrating a combination of sliding locks for IP joints and a wire locking system for finger MCP joints. Besides, the intuitive design of Flexohand inherently allows wrist joint movement during hand digit exercises. Experiments of passive exercises involving isolated joint motion, composite joint motions of individual fingers, and isolated joint motion of multiple fingers have been conducted to validate the functionality of the developed device. The experimental results show that Flexohand addresses the limitations of existing robot-aided hand rehabilitation devices.
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