Exploiting Wearable Goniometer Technology for Motion Sensing Gloves

Abstract

This paper presents an innovative wearable kinesthetic glove realized with knitted piezoresistive fabric (KPF) sensor technology. The glove is conceived to capture hand movement and gesture by using KPF in a double-layer configuration working as angular sensors (electrogoniometers). The sensing glove prototype is endowed by three KPF goniometers, used to track flexion and extension movement of metacarpophalangeal joint of thumb, index, and middle fingers. The glove is devoted to the continuous monitoring of patients during their daily-life activities, in particular for stroke survivors during their rehabilitation. The prototype performances have been evaluated in comparison with an optical tracking system considered as a gold standard both for relieving static and dynamic posture and gesture of the hand. The introduced prototype has shown very interesting figures of merit. The angular error, evaluated through the standard Bland Altman analysis, has been estimated in ±3° which is slightly less accurate than commercial electrogoniometers. Moreover, a new conceptual prototype design, preliminary evaluated within this study, is presented and discussed in order to solve actual limitations in terms of number and type of sensor connections, avoiding mechanical constraints given by metallic inextensible wires and improving user comfort.

Dynamic Gesture Recognition Using a Smart Glove in Hand-Assisted Laparoscopic Surgery

“…In [19], the reliable performance of the glove goniometers was demonstrated, and showed errors below five degrees as compared with an optical motion capture instrument during natural hand opening/closing movements. The glove has two KPF goniometers on the dorsal side of the hand to detect the flexion-extension movement of the metacarpal-phalangeal joints of the index and middle fingers.…”

A Fabric-Based Approach for Wearable Haptics

“…To tackle these issues, the author proposes to leverage the intrinsic wearability of fabrics with the objective of engineering artificial devices, which can be easily worn and, at the same time, enable a highly natural HRI. These characteristics have been already widely used in the literature to develop sensors for monitoring human behavior, which can successfully handle the demands of on-body sensing and are also light-weight, such as knitted fabrics (e.g., [43][44][45][46]). For this reason, extensive research work has been performed for the definition of mechanical textile properties (which can affect haptic sensation), as well as subjective evaluation of haptic properties of fabrics and textiles (see references [47][48][49][50]).…”

Wearable Sensing for Solid Biomechanics

“…However, the complex setup procedures, poor wearability, and rigid construction of most exoskeletons affect routine usage and natural human movement. To this end, flexible and comfortable goniometers have also been used directly on the body to capture joint angles from specific parts of the body, such as the fingers [61] and legs [62], but flexible goniometers still suffer from complex setup procedures, requiring precise alignment across joints.…”