Upper Limb Flexion Assistance Based on Minimum-Jerk Trajectory Using Wearable Motion-Assist Robot

Abstract

AbstractIn this paper, we propose a robotic system to assist patients who have upper limb dysfunction in performing reaching movements through flexion. Since upper-limb motion is more strongly needed than lower limb mobility for near work, a patient's level of recovery of upper-limb function influences daily life. Recently, with the widespread application of robotic technology in rehabilitation medicine, it is often noted that moving actively is more important than moving passively to enable rapid recovery. Human reaching movement is known to conform to the standard minimum-jerk, which is characterized by a bell-shaped velocity waveform with a single peak. Patients with dysfunction move their extremities if they are capable of controlling the motor movement of their upper limb, but are assisted by the robot when they cannot do so. The range of movement is estimated from the motor control based on minimum-jerk criterion.