Abstract
We introduce a new mechanism and control system for wireless assistive finger training. The proposed mechanism and control system can provide natural finger flexion and extension via magnetic force and torque between a driving coil and a multi-link magnetic assist device placed on the fingers. The proposed mechanism is designed to allow normal movement while maintaining a natural finger shape, even when multiple magnets are applied to the fingers. Anatomical features were considered in the design to accommodate the angular changes between the fingers during hand extension and flexion. The magnetic force between the control system and the device on the hand allows extension and flexion of the fingers without the use of wires and electrical motors. The performance of the driving system and the magnetic device were verified through various simulations and experiments. A control program with motion tracking is also developed using LabView software. Hence, a wireless assistive finger training system is successfully realized.
Highlights
Hand injury is one of the major symptoms of strokes and, in post-stroke care, rehabilitation training is the most important treatment for significant improvement in the patient’s condition [1,2,3]
We propose a multi-link magnet device a with wireless control method
For wireless assistive finger movement, we developed an electromagnetic control system
Summary
Hand injury is one of the major symptoms of strokes and, in post-stroke care, rehabilitation training is the most important treatment for significant improvement in the patient’s condition [1,2,3]. These devices have various disadvantages, such as complex mechanical structures, large volumes, limited degrees of freedom (DOFs), and poor wearability on the hand [9,10,11,12,13,14] To avoid these problems, soft-actuator-based training devices have been developed [15,16,17,18], wherein the soft-actuators are arranged in relatively simple configuration and are controlled by pneumatics [19]. Poor usability still remains a problem to be solved To solve these problems, we propose a new method and mechanism for wireless active finger training or rehabilitation, which uses magnetic forces and is based on wireless operation.
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