Soft Rehabilitation Actuator With Integrated Post-stroke Finger Spasticity Evaluation

Heung, Ho Lam; Tang, Zhi Qiang; Shi, Xiang Qian; Tong, Kai-Yu; Li, Zheng

doi:10.3389/fbioe.2020.00111

Cited by 36 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 43 publications

(46 reference statements)

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“…Hence, the use of collaborative robots in clinical settings could increase the safeguarding during physical human-robot interaction. The new soft robotics devices [ 78 ] could reduce an occasional and unintentional accident. This technology has been slightly explored in rehabilitation, even considering some types of exoskeletons (cable-driven) as soft or compliance-based devices.…”

Section: Prospects For Improvement In Robot-aided Upper Limb Spastmentioning

confidence: 99%

Robot-Aided Systems for Improving the Assessment of Upper Limb Spasticity: A Systematic Review

de-la-Torre

Oña

Balaguer

et al. 2020

Sensors

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Spasticity is a motor disorder that causes stiffness or tightness of the muscles and can interfere with normal movement, speech, and gait. Traditionally, the spasticity assessment is carried out by clinicians using standardized procedures for objective evaluation. However, these procedures are manually performed and, thereby, they could be influenced by the clinician’s subjectivity or expertise. The automation of such traditional methods for spasticity evaluation is an interesting and emerging field in neurorehabilitation. One of the most promising approaches is the use of robot-aided systems. In this paper, a systematic review of systems focused on the assessment of upper limb (UL) spasticity using robotic technology is presented. A systematic search and review of related articles in the literature were conducted. The chosen works were analyzed according to the morphology of devices, the data acquisition systems, the outcome generation method, and the focus of intervention (assessment and/or training). Finally, a series of guidelines and challenges that must be considered when designing and implementing fully-automated robot-aided systems for the assessment of UL spasticity are summarized.

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Section: Prospects For Improvement In Robot-aided Upper Limb Spastmentioning

confidence: 99%

Robot-Aided Systems for Improving the Assessment of Upper Limb Spasticity: A Systematic Review

de-la-Torre

Oña

Balaguer

et al. 2020

Sensors

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“…Flex sensor (Flex-point Sensor System, Draper, UT, United States) is placed beneath the MCP segment for measuring the bending angle. Besides, we have developed the SECA-Finger model for predicting the bending performance of SECA on spastic finger, as illustrated in Figure 1 (Tang et al, 2019;Heung et al, 2020). The influence of spastic fingers to SECA actuation is also addressed by the model, allowing us to obtain indicative results regarding the stiffness of MCP joint.…”

Section: System Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previously, we introduced the first 3D printed soft-elastic composite actuator (SECA) for hand rehabilitation that quantifies stiffness of the impaired fingers (Heung et al, 2020). We further demonstrated the methodology of applying this soft actuator to finger stiffness evaluation using its static models.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Experimental results showing the joint stiffness of subjects with chronic stroke and no neurological deficit were obtained using the static model, which are supportive to existing clinical measures. However, validation of our method feasibility and compatibility in our previous study (Heung et al, 2020) only involved experiments performed on mannequin hands with different torsion springs with preset stiffness values. It would be necessary to compare the results obtained from our new method with existing ground-truth joint stiffness values based on the well-validated stiffness quantification methods in existing literatures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Verification of Finger Joint Stiffness Estimation Method With Soft Robotic Actuator

Shi

Heung

Tang

et al. 2020

Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.

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Stroke has been the leading cause of disability due to the induced spasticity in the upper extremity. The constant flexion of spastic fingers following stroke has not been well described. Accurate measurements for joint stiffness help clinicians have a better access to the level of impairment after stroke. Previously, we conducted a method for quantifying the passive finger joint stiffness based on the pressure-angle relationship between the spastic fingers and the soft-elastic composite actuator (SECA). However, it lacks a ground-truth to demonstrate the compatibility between the SECA-facilitated stiffness estimation and standard joint stiffness quantification procedure. In this study, we compare the passive metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint stiffness measured using the SECA with the results from our designed standalone mechatronics device, which measures the passive metacarpophalangeal joint torque and angle during passive finger rotation. Results obtained from the fitting model that concludes the stiffness characteristic are further compared with the results obtained from SECA-Finger model, as well as the clinical score of Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) for grading spasticity. These findings suggest the possibility of passive MCP joint stiffness quantification using the soft robotic actuator during the performance of different tasks in hand rehabilitation.

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“…According to their study with four stoke patients and four healthy subjects shows that estimated stiffness on both PIP and MCP joints are correlated with MAS and there is an apparent stiffness difference between two participant groups. 36 The NeuroFlexor (Aggero Medtech AB, Sweden) is a commercially available spasticity assessment device for upper extremity. 37 It measures the force required to move a patient's hand in a purely passive way in 1 DOF.…”

Section: State Of the Artmentioning

confidence: 99%

A domestic robotic rehabilitation device for assessment of wrist function for outpatients

Panny

Mayr²,

Nagiller

et al. 2020

Journal of Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies Engineerin

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Introduction Available robot-assisted stroke rehabilitation systems are often limited in their utilization in the home environment, due to several barriers such as high cost, absence of therapists, tedious training tasks, or encumbering interfaces. This paper presents a low-cost robotic rehabilitation and assessment device for restoring wrist function, offering wrist exercises incorporating pronation-supination and flexion-extension movements. Furthermore, the device is designed for the assessment of joint stiffness of the wrist, and range of motion in two degrees of freedom. Methods: Mechanical/electrical design of the device as well as the control system is described. A preliminary evaluation focused on the measurement of the torsional stiffness of the limb is presented. It is evaluated by reconstructing the known stiffness values of torsional springs by measuring the motor current required to displace them. Results The device demonstrates the ability to determine the stiffness of an object with low-cost hardware. Use case scenarios of the device for training and assessment of the wrist are presented, allowing for a range of motion of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], for pronation-supination and flexion-extension respectively. Conclusion The device shows potential to help objectively quantify the stiffness of the wrist movement, which consecutively could be used to represent and quantify the degree of impairment of patients after stroke in a more objective manner. Further clinical study is necessary to examine this.

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Soft Rehabilitation Actuator With Integrated Post-stroke Finger Spasticity Evaluation

Cited by 36 publications

References 43 publications

Robot-Aided Systems for Improving the Assessment of Upper Limb Spasticity: A Systematic Review

Robot-Aided Systems for Improving the Assessment of Upper Limb Spasticity: A Systematic Review

Verification of Finger Joint Stiffness Estimation Method With Soft Robotic Actuator

A domestic robotic rehabilitation device for assessment of wrist function for outpatients

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