Finger Rehabilitation Support System Using a Multifingered Haptic Interface Controlled by a Surface Electromyogram

Abstract

This paper presents a new type of finger rehabilitation system using a multifingered haptic interface that is controlled by the patient though a surface electromyogram. We have developed the multifingered haptic interface robot: HIRO III that can give 3-directional forces to 5 fingertips. This robot can also be used as a rehabilitation device that can provide various fingertip exercises and measure various types of information. The sEMG works together with the HIRO III to consider the patient's intent. The proposed system is intended for patients having paralysis in the hand and fingers, and the motions will be provided as biofeedback to the fingertips with the device. In contrast to completely passive rehabilitation, the proposed system can provide active rehabilitation using sEMG. The experiment involved finger opening and closing with this system by ten able-bodied subjects. The results show that almost all subjects felt appropriate motion support from the device.

A High-Level Control Algorithm Based on sEMG Signalling for an Elbow Joint SMA Exoskeleton

“…This process was accomplished with two types of sEMG circuits: firstly with the circuit realized in UC3M, presented in Section 2.1.3 , and secondly with an sEMG measurement device (DKH Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan) with a sampling frequency of 1 kHz. This latter circuit was successfully used in other works, such as for the control of a prosthetic hand [ 32 ], and in a rehabilitation finger system [ 33 ]. The sEMG signal acquired with the UC3M circuit was similar to the sEMG signal acquired with the DKH circuit.…”

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

“…Nevertheless, only a few of these devices were developed with strong focus on high usability and easy setup (e.g., Masia et al, 2007 ; Yap et al, 2016 ; Randazzo et al, 2018 ; Bützer et al, 2020 ). While hand exoskeletons are inherently difficult to setup in patients suffering from spasticity due to their complexity (Aggogeri et al, 2019 ), grounded end-effector devices generally compromise the range of finger motion (e.g., Masia et al, 2007 ; Zhu et al, 2014 ; Just et al, 2019 ) and/or are not able to guarantee physiological movements of the fingers (e.g., Dovat et al, 2008 ; Hioki et al, 2011 ; Metzger et al, 2011 ).…”

“…Several end-effector devices have been specifically developed to provide haptic feedback. The HIRO-III (Hioki et al, 2011 ) is a haptic interface that resembles a robotic hand with fingers that interact individually with the subject's fingertips. The underactuated orthosis of Sooraj et al, employs a three-bar linkage mechanism to individually actuate the fingertips and offers a large range of motion (Sooraj et al, 2013 ).…”