Design and Development of an Assistive Hand Device for Enhancing Compatibility and Comfortability

Abstract

Currently, there are plenty of hand exoskeletons for rehabilitation and assistive purpose that have been developed. They have been designed for working with patient’s limbs and can be used for hand positioning and executing task which help reduce therapist’s workload and gives them an alternative way to rehabilitate patients. However, there are some patients with permanent impairment which cannot improve from rehabilitation further. Thus, portable assistive devices could greatly help them performing simple activities of daily living (ADL), but such device has not been fully explored yet, the present design of tendon routing cannot closely replicate finger orientation and motion during grasping. Improving the flexion tendon would increase the possibility of grasping for patients with hand disability. This research aims to develop a tendon routing design of soft exoskeleton to increase compatibility with human hand, while it can execute tasks and exercises more naturally compared to normal limbs to help stroke patients to live independently. Results convince that the proposed flexion routing can closely replicate human grasping motion with sufficient fingertip force to perform daily activities.