Muscle stiffness sensor to control an assistance device for the disabled

Moromugi, Shunji; Koujina, Yasuhiro; Ariki, Seigo; Okamoto, Atsushi; Tanaka, Takayuki; Feng, Maria Q.; Ishimatsu, Takakazu

doi:10.1007/s10015-004-0286-8

Cited by 41 publications

(15 citation statements)

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“…The majority of the hand exoskeletons that have been developed so far can be classified into three categories according to the source of intention extraction: fingerpad contact force [7]- [10], finger motion [11]- [13], and surface electromyography (sEMG) [14]- [17]. Although muscle hardness can also be utilized for intention extraction [18], it has neither been proven to be able to identify individual finger force nor been widely adopted. The fingerpad contact force measurement is performed by force or pressure sensors that are located on the wearer's fingerpad so that the grip force being exerted to the gripped object by the wearer can be identified.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Power-Assistive Finger Exoskeleton With a Palmar Opening at the Fingerpad

Heo

Kim

2014

IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng.

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This paper presents a powered finger exoskeleton with an open fingerpad, named the Open Fingerpad eXoskeleton (OFX). The palmar opening at the fingerpad allows for direct contact between the user's fingerpad and objects in order to make use of the wearer's own tactile sensation for dexterous manipulation. Lateral side walls at the end of the OFX's index finger module are equipped with custom load cells for estimating the wearer's pinch grip force. A pneumatic cylinder generates assistance force, which is determined according to the estimated pinch grip force. The OFX transmits the assistance force directly to the objects without exerting pressure on the wearer's finger. The advantage of the OFX over an exoskeleton with a closed fingerpad was validated experimentally. During static and dynamic manipulation of a test object, the OFX exhibited a lower safety margin than the closed exoskeleton, indicating a higher ability to adjust the grip force within an appropriate range. Furthermore, the benefit of force assistance in reducing the muscular burden was observed in terms of muscle fatigue during a static pinch grip. The median frequency (MDF) of the surface electromyography (sEMG) signal from the first dorsal interosseous (FDI) muscle displayed a lower reduction rate for the assisted condition, indicating a lower accumulation rate of muscle fatigue.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Power-Assistive Finger Exoskeleton With a Palmar Opening at the Fingerpad

Heo

Kim

2014

IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng.

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“…A sensor that has been developed by one of the authors detects the level of muscle activity [6] is used in this system. This sensor has several advantages compared to conventional EMG sensory systems as it measures more selectively and is easy to install.…”

Section: Muscle Activity Sensormentioning

confidence: 99%

Exotendon Glove System for Finger Rehabilitation after Stroke

Moromugi

Higashi

Ishikawa

et al. 2014

Biosystems &Amp; Biorobotics

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Abstract. An innovative electric-powered glove system has been prototyped to support finger rehabilitation for people with motor impairment on their fingers after a stroke. This glove system is composed of a leather glove which has a unique actuation mechanism called an exotendon system, a muscle activity sensor is fixed on the upper forearm to detect user's efforts during finger exercises and a controller including a microcomputer and a drive unit. An evaluation has been conducted based on A-B design of a single subject study and it has been observed that finger exercises carried out using the prototyped glove system has effectively improved the finger functionality of a stroke patient.

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“…The degree was measured at which certain types of muscles are stiffened depending on the movement and thereby controlled an orthosis for patients with disability [13]. Also in the current manuscript, using the degree of muscular stiffness occurring when the muscles contract depending on the movement, elbow orthosis was controlled.…”

Section: Sensor For Measuring the Muscular Stiffness Forcementioning

confidence: 99%