Rehabilitative and assistive wearable mechatronic upper-limb devices: A review

Abstract

Recently, there has been a trend toward assistive mechatronic devices that are wearable. These devices provide the ability to assist without tethering the user to a specific location. However, there are characteristics of these devices that are limiting their ability to perform motion tasks and the adoption rate of these devices into clinical settings. The objective of this research is to perform a review of the existing wearable assistive devices that are used to assist with musculoskeletal and neurological disorders affecting the upper limb. A review of the existing literature was conducted on devices that are wearable, assistive, and mechatronic, and that provide motion assistance to the upper limb. Five areas were examined, including sensors, actuators, control techniques, computer systems, and intended applications. Fifty-three devices were reviewed that either assist with musculoskeletal disorders or suppress tremor. The general trends found in this review show a lack of requirements, device details, and standardization of reporting and evaluation. Two areas to accelerate the evolution of these devices were identified, including the standardization of research, clinical, and engineering details, and the promotion of multidisciplinary culture. Adoption of these devices into their intended application domains relies on the continued efforts of the community.

Robotic Home-Based Rehabilitation Systems Design: From a Literature Review to a Conceptual Framework for Community-Based Remote Therapy During COVID-19 Pandemic

“…After considering the mechatronic aspects, the control system has to be developed to ensure the proper behavior of the device ( Desplenter et al, 2020 ). From the hierarchy point of view, it is suggested to group the control system into three levels, mission planning, trajectory planning, and state space control, where the state space control can itself be in two levels of supervisory control and low-level control.…”

“…Considering the type of human-machine interaction, control system inputs can be divided into bioelectric signals, e.g., EMG, and biomechanical signals, e.g., joint position, or a combination of these two types of signals ( Desplenter et al, 2020 ). Biomechanical signals provide an accurate and stable interaction, especially for patients with high-level impairment, while biosignals are used for their potential in intention detection and neurological clinical applications due to their favorable effects on nerve rehabilitation treatment ( Zhang et al, 2018 ).…”

Wearable Robots: An Original Mechatronic Design of a Hand Exoskeleton for Assistive and Rehabilitative Purposes

“…Despite their significant variability, such devices have in common some requirements (Sarac et al, 2019 ), such as: (i) being correctly coupled with the assisted hand; (ii) ensuring user safety and comfort; (iii) being effective in force transmission; and (iv) being as affordable and available as possible. A wide range of Hand Exoskeleton Systems (HESs), achieving at least one of these requirements, are suggested in the literature and can be distinguished according to different aspects, typically the aim, the assisted movements, mechanical design, actuation, and control systems (Troncossi et al, 2016 ; Meng et al, 2017 ; Sarac et al, 2019 ; Desplenter et al, 2020 ).…”

State-of-the-Art Assistive Powered Upper Limb Exoskeletons for Elderly

“…Numerous review papers have been published on the topic of upper limb exoskeletons for rehabilitation and assistive purposes [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. The difference between these published review papers and this paper is that the current paper concentrates mostly on robotic upper limb devices which can be used by old people to perform their ADL, enabling them improving their life quality.…”