Exploring solutions to assist finger rehabilitation with flexibility

Abstract

Motivated by the need to help those people whose hands and fingers are incapacitated due to injuries or birth defects, the curved-type pneumatic artificial rubber muscle is discussed in this paper, which is shown to be more flexible and convient than traditional motor-driven soft robotic devices for hand rehabilitation and assistance if designed correctly. When people are injured, their finger joints become stiff and not be able to fully flex. Thus, an assisting device is needed. Machine-based hand exoskeleton for rehabilitation uses hardware and hard components, which carries the risk of furthering the injuries when the exoskeleton breaks or exceeds its driving capacity. In comparison, air-pneumatics driven hand rehabilitation device composed of flexible air muscle not only curves smoother, but also weighs lighter and can be designed as a carry-on, providing safety, utility, and comfortability. Several experiments and researches were run to determine the best structure and air-pressure to suit such purposes. Instead of the traditional button-pressing panel, Neuron-Muscular Transmission (NMT) - a detectable chemical signal - is used to activate the inflation and deflation of the device, therefore making the device thought-driven. In the end, Flexible Pneumatic System (FPS) is created to improve hand rehabilitation and supportive exoskeleton devices.