EMG based Exoskeleton for Left Hemiplegia patients

Abstract

Paralysis is a condition in which the muscle function is lost in a part of the body. Paralysis is mainly caused as a result of severe stroke, where in the blood supply to a part of the brain is cut off. Hemiplegiais a type of paralysis which affects half of the body includes one arm and one leg on the same side of the body. The case of left Hemiplegia is taken into account, which is caused by the absence of blood supply to the righthemisphere of the brain. Stationary systems like Lokomat, used in the rehabilitation centres to assist training, provide highly repetitive action and just assistance to the patient’s capabilities while walking on a treadmill. However these systems are not portable and cannot be used for home or daily activities. To overcome this, this paper presents the rehabilitation system, which comprises of an exoskeleton that aids the movement of the left upper limb. The entire system is driven by a motor through a microcontroller system which assists patient’s flexion and extension movements. Meanwhile, EMG signal can be recorded by placing surface electrodes to know the recovery of physiological motor function.