Development of Pressure Sensitive Glove Prototype

Abstract

Manual therapy is used to treat patients with neck pain, and mobilization techniques are practiced clinically by physiotherapists. To evaluate the effectiveness of therapy it is necessary to measure the applied manual therapy forces. We present the sensitive glove concept designed to measure the forces applied during therapy. The sensitive glove is equipped with multiple textile-based sensors connected by sewing technology, in which changes in electrical resistance were observed due to the applied force. The number and position of sensors were defined basing on the experience of manual therapists and practicable techniques. Glove fabrication technologies were tested practically – sensors were glued and sewn on the base material and simple conductive threads were sewn by hand and with a sewing machine. Technological solutions were evaluated both in terms of visual and technical aspects. The final version of the sensitive glove was assessed by an expert and recommendations were given for improving further prototypes.