A novel upper limb rehabilitation system with hand exoskeleton mechanism

Abstract

The exoskeleton robot is a comprehensive technology that is combination of sensing, control and information. Based on the upper limb exoskeleton rehabilitation device (ULERD), this paper describes a novel hand exoskeleton mechanism for using in rehabilitation field and aiming at helping varieties of hemiparalysis patients recover motor function of the whole-arm. This system consists of exoskeleton device, haptic device (PHANTOM Premium), motors, motor controllers and work station. And the hand exoskeleton mechanism is portable, wearable and adjustable for patients doing home rehabilitation training. Through using the finite element software (ANSYS), the main components of the hand exoskeleton are studied by force simulation analysis. And it shows that the exoskeleton device have the ability to resist deformation and sustain patients' fingers to implement rehabilitation training. Except that, a finger model is established to simulate the force status in different flexion angles of the proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joint and the metacarpaophalangeal (MCP) joint. From the analysis of the finger joint, the optimal joint activity range of device is presented that the PIP joint is less than 60° and the MCP joint is less than 75°. These experiments demonstrate this exoskeleton can provide a scientific rehabilitation method for the hemiparalysis patients and force influence of the exoskeleton device should be considered and reduced. In the future, with the mechanism structure improvement, this system will have a promising application prospect in the rehabilitation field.