A hand exoskeleton device for robot assisted sensory-motor training after stroke

Design Requirements of Generic Hand Exoskeletons and Survey of Hand Exoskeletons for Rehabilitation, Assistive, or Haptic Use

“…Finally, a mechanism can be designed with a single actuator to control finger opening/closing through 4 DoF [25], [33], [35], [45], [46], [60], [63], [66], [72], [82], 3 DoF [23], [24], [26], [32], [38], [47], [48], [50], [51], [54]- [57], [59], [62], [64], [65], [68], [71], [74], [79]- [81], [83], [84] or 2 DoF [15], [31], [52], [53], [58], [61], [77], [78] mobility. Such coupling can set by a constant ratio through mechanical linkages or differential systems, or by adjusting the transmitted forces automatically based on contact forces [88].…”

“…One approach to design finger components is to choose the same number of interaction points as the number of DoF. In other words, an exoskeleton can be designed with 4 DoF and 3 interaction points [28]- [30], [33], [35], [40], [45], [46], [72], [82], 3 DoF and 3 interaction points (Figure 5(a)) [23], [24], [26], [27], [32], [34], [44], [47], [49]- [51], [54], [59], [62], [64], [65], [67]- [69], [71], [74], [75], [79]- [81], [83], [84], [87], 2 DoF and 2 interaction points (Figure 5(b)) [15], [22], [31], [37], [52], [53], [58], [61], [76], [77] or 1 DoF and 1 interaction point (Figure 5(c)) [41],…”

“…Glovebased devices require the user to wear a flexible glove equipped with sensors for motion tracking, and are perfect for haptic applications. They can assist/resist user's activity through cable transmission (Figure 7(a)) [50], [51], [62], [80], [83], or linkage transmission (Figure 7(b)) [22], [52], [53], [59], [64], [71], [72], [75]. Even though their wearability can be improved using Velcro connections in the palm [52] or half gloves [53], [71], patients still have to reach an initial pose to wear the glove.…”

“…Alternatively, an exoskeleton can align mechanical and finger joints through adjusted mechanical connections and links [15], [22], [27]- [30], [32], [33], [37], [40], [45], [52], [57], [60], [62], [63], [67], [73], [77], [84], [87]. The user wears the device before operation and a technician fixes a sliderscrew system for fitting.…”

A Novel Clinical-Driven Design for Robotic Hand Rehabilitation: Combining Sensory Training, Effortless Setup, and Large Range of Motion in a Palmar Device

“…While exoskeletons as well as soft robotic gloves create opportunities to integrate rehabilitation in activities of daily living, the vast majority of them is difficult to setup for patients suffering from compromised finger mobility due to spasticity or hypertonia (Tsai et al, 2019 ), which greatly limits the potential for interventions with these devices. Although a few wearable exoskeletons or soft robotic gloves are capable of haptic rendering [e.g., (Li et al, 2011 ; Sandoval-Gonzalez et al, 2016 ; Decker and Kim, 2017 ), CyberForce (CyberGlove Systems, USA), see Supplementary Material for further details], most of them do not yield this functionality. Due to their design, exoskeletons often allow to provide tactile sensory information by directly interacting with physical objects during exercises (e.g., Wang et al, 2018 ).…”