A bilateral rehabilitation method for arm coordination and manipulation function with gesture and haptic interfaces

Abstract

Disabilities after neural injury such as stroke bring tremendous burden to the patients, families and society. Besides the conventional constrained-induced training with the paretic arm, bilateral rehabilitation training involves both the ipsilateral and contralateral sides of the neural injury, fits well the fact that both arms are needed in common activities of daily living (ADLs), and can promote good functional recovery. In this work, a bilateral rehabilitation training method is proposed and implemented with the Leap Motion sensor and omega.7 haptic interface. The Leap Motion sensor detects the motion of the healthy hand, and the omega.7 device, according to the cooperative task paradigm, assists the paretic hand as much as needed with active force feedback to accomplish the manipulation task. A virtual scenario has been built up, and the motion and force data enables visual and audio feedback in real time as well as further analysis of the functional capabilities of the patient. This task-oriented bimanual training paradigm encourages active involvement of the patients into rehabilitation, strengthens cooperation of both the healthy and impaired hands, challenges the dexterous manipulation capability of the paretic hand, suits easy home use, and thus, promises effective rehabilitation therapy.

Fusion of Haptic and Gesture Sensors for Rehabilitation of Bimanual Coordination and Dexterous Manipulation

“…The repeatability error is less than 0.17 mm. Thus, the Leap Motion device offers a portable, compact economic and reasonably precise sensor solution to realize various human-machine interaction applications in the field of AAL (ambient assisted living) and ADLs [ 30 , 31 , 32 ], especially for the elderly and disabled users.…”

“…The 4 DOFs’ precise force feedback is provided during the active translational and grasping movements [ 30 ]. The movement range for grasping is 25 mm, with a resolution of 0.006 mm, and the force feedback is up to ±8.0 N, enabling dexterous manipulation and haptic interaction [ 4 , 31 ]. The workspace for translational movements is Φ160 × 110 mm 3 , with a resolution of better than 0.01 mm, and the force feedback can go up to 12.0 N. The rotational workspace of the omega.7 device is 240 × 140 × 180 in degrees, with a resolution of 0.09 degrees.…”

An Improved Wrist Kinematic Model for Human-Robot Interaction

“…The movement of distal arm for each subject was recorded during wrist FE motion through the Leap Motion sensor. The Leap Motion sensor offers novel solutions to track the motion of human hands and fingers and record discrete positions and gestures of distal arm within intimate proximity of operating space [23], [24], [25]. Study addressing the tracking accuracy and robustness of the optical device has reported that an overall average accuracy of 0.7 mm was achieved among static and dynamic measurement.…”