Abstract
The present paper describes a data acquisition wearable device for hand rehabilitation. The main goal of this glove is to be used by patients with hand movement impairment. It has position sensors to measure the bending of synovial joints and sensors to measure the fingertip contact pressure. There is a coin motor and a LED placed on each finger to produce a vibratory and visual stimulus. The glove also tracks the hand rotation and translation using a MPU (Motion Processing Unit) that contains an accelerometer and a gyroscope. A graphical application for an HMI module was developed in order to create rehabilitation game like exercises where sensor data can be logged for further analysis by a therapist. The wearable device electronic hardware comprises a Glove module and an HMI module that communicate through SPI protocol (Serial Peripheral Interface). The wearable device supports USB connection to send data to a computer or to be used as a peripheral device in virtual or augmented reality applications.
Highlights
Stroke is one of the leading causes of death in Europe and hemiparesis affects roughly 80 percent of stroke survivors, causing weakness or movement limitations to one side of the body
This goal oriented game-like exercise is an example of what can be implemented with this wearable device to promote the practice of rehabilitation exercises
A functional prototype of a wearable device was built while maintaining low costs
Summary
Stroke is one of the leading causes of death in Europe and hemiparesis affects roughly 80 percent of stroke survivors, causing weakness or movement limitations to one side of the body. The recovery of these movement impairments can be done through frequent stimulation promoted by rehabilitation exercises on a daily basis, taking advantage of the brain plasticity [1]. The rehabilitation of this kind of disorders, such as hemiparesis, usually requires the manipulation of the patient’s hand by a specialized therapist and has high associated costs involving daily exercises during several months/years. The use of these devices during home rehabilitation promote the success and efficiency of the therapy, lowering the involved costs and countering tedious rehabilitation routines
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