Bio-inspired upper limb soft exoskeleton to reduce stroke-induced complications

Abstract

Stroke has become the leading cause of disability and the second-leading cause of mortality worldwide. Dyskinesia complications are the major reason of these high death and disability rates. As a tool for rapid motion function recovery in stroke patients, exoskeleton robots can reduce complications and thereby decrease stroke mortality rates. However, existing exoskeleton robots interfere with the wearer's natural motion and damage joints and muscles due to poor human-machine coupling. In this paper, a novel ergonomic soft bionic exoskeleton robot with 7 degrees of freedom was proposed to address these problems based on the principles of functional anatomy and sports biomechanics. First, the human motion system was analysed according to the functional anatomy, and the muscles were modelled as tension lines. Second, a soft bionic robot was established based on the musculoskeletal tension line model. Third, a robot control method mimicking human muscle control principles was proposed and optimized on a humanoid platform manufactured using 3D printing. After the control method was optimized, the motion trajectory similarities between humans and the platform exceeded 87%. Fourth, the force-assisted effect was tested based on electromyogram signals, and the results showed that muscle signals decreased by 58.17% after robot assistance. Finally, motion-assistance experiments were performed with stroke patients. The joint movement level increased by 174% with assistance, which allowed patients to engage in activities of daily living. With this robot, stroke patients could recover their motion functions, preventing complications and decreasing fatality and disability rates.

Textile Technology for Soft Robotic and Autonomous Garments

“…Grasping and reaching assistance robots use actuators that either flex or extend the joints of the fingers, [ 14,56 ] the wrist, [ 57,58 ] the elbow, [ 22,59 ] or the shoulder. [ 16,59,60 ] Strategies to support abduction of the shoulder, provide a scaffold to support the limb, or a combination of these methods are also common.…”

Bioinspired Musculoskeletal Model-based Soft Wrist Exoskeleton for Stroke Rehabilitation

“…The results show the EMG signal with assistance was reduced by 48.5% compared to that without assistance. The value is slightly lower than that of elbow joint [31,33] . It is because the main function of wrist joint relative to elbow joint is position adjustment function, not to carry the load.…”

“…The research work conducted an in-depth study on the wrist joint. In our previous work [32,33] , we have verified the feasibility of the 7 DOFs of the soft upper limb exoskeleton. Next, the simplified muscle model and bionic kinematics model will be extended to the upper limbs and whole-body exoskeleton robots.…”

Design and Prototyping of a Bio-Inspired Kinematic Sensing Suit for the Shoulder Joint: Precursor to a Multi-DoF Shoulder Exosuit

“…The metal routing elements (see inset in Fig.2) were printed using the Mlab Cusing 3D printer (Concept Laser, Germany). These routing elements ensure that the tendons maintain the desired path and adhere closely to the suit, and not follow the shortest line outside the body as seen in [10,11]. Both tendons (OD 0.47mm) and the tendonsheaths (OD 1.12mm, ID 0.55mm) were PTFE-coated to reduce friction.…”

“…* The authors are with The Hamlyn Centre, Department of Computing, Institute for Global Health Innovation, Imperial College London, SW7 2AZ, London, UK (email: r.varghese15@imperial.ac.uk) cussed on 1-DoF (abduction/adduction) assistance for the shoulder [7,8]. 2-DoF solutions include a semi-rigid continuum robot system [9] and two multi-DoF tendon-driven exosuits [10,11]. Soft kinematic sensing networks are vital for compensating the compliance and non-linearities inherent in these human-exosuit systems, and needs to work alongside a vision-based system to provide sensory feedback for accomplishing reaching and manipulation tasks.…”