Wearable Lymphedema Massaging Modules: Proof of Concept using Origami-inspired Soft Fabric Pneumatic Actuators

Yoo, Hye Ju; Kim, Woongbae; Lee, Sang-Yoep; Choi, Joonmyeong; Kim, Youn Joo; Koo, Da Som; Nam, Yun-Ja; Cho, Kyu-Jin

doi:10.1109/icorr.2019.8779525

Cited by 6 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…The field of soft robotics has opened up new avenues to design and fabricate actuators, sensors, and mechanisms ( Yasa et al, 2023 ). During the last decade, various actuation principles (e.g., pneumatic ( Xavier et al, 2022 ), dielectric ( Gupta et al, 2019 ), magnetorheological ( Bastola et al, 2020 ), magnetic ( Kim and Zhao, 2022 )) have motivated the development of soft actuators for a myriad of applications, ranging from aerospace to physiatry ( Huaroto et al, 2019 ; Yoo et al, 2019 ; Gollob et al, 2023 ; O’Neill et al, 2023 ; Zhang et al, 2023a ). In particular, soft pneumatic actuators have been the gold standard for creating large stroke actuation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, bulk structures made of rubber-like silicones have limited the practical integration of soft pneumatic actuators in wearable devices ( Zhu et al, 2020 ; Yang et al, 2023 ). Fabric-based pneumatic actuators (FPAs) harness the properties of fabrics (e.g., light weight, flexibility, anisotropy, and softness) to enable their integration into wearable devices ( Suarez et al, 2018 ; Connolly et al, 2019 ; Yoo et al, 2019 ; O’Neill et al, 2021 ), smart garments ( Sanchez et al, 2021 ), and systems for assistive technology or human augmentation ( Cappello et al, 2018a ; Liang et al, 2018 ; Proietti et al, 2023 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The FPAs frequently use knit and woven textiles to fabricate fundamental structures such as pouches and inflatable fabric beams (IFBs) ( Niiyama et al, 2015 ; Khin et al, 2017 ; Yoo et al, 2019 ; Nguyen and Zhang, 2020 ; Lee and Rodrigue, 2023 ). These inflatable structures are engineered to create twisting, elongating, bending, straightening, and multi-degrees-of-freedom actuators ( Nguyen and Zhang, 2020 ; Sanchez et al, 2021 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In particular, an IFB can attain a targeted motion through the incorporation of tailored sewing patterns ( Yap et al, 2017a ; Ge et al, 2020 ; Zhu et al, 2020 ; Suulker et al, 2022 ), heat-sealing hinges ( Ou et al, 2016 ; Khin et al, 2017 ), anisotropic fabrics ( Cappello et al, 2018b ; Connolly et al, 2019 ), and folds ( Yoo et al, 2019 ). While IFBs have found applications in manipulators, grippers, and assistive technology, their ability to revert to the folded configuration upon depressurization relies upon the elasticity modulus of the fabric ( Nesler et al, 2018 ; Yoo et al, 2019 ). The textiles used in IFBs possess a notably higher elasticity modulus than elastomeric materials ( Zhang et al, 2023b ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the realm of IFBs integrating folds, pleating techniques have motivated the development of straightening and bending actuators ( Khin et al, 2017 ; Nesler et al, 2018 ; Yoo et al, 2019 ). A pleat fold is a fundamental origami fold consisting of valley and mountain creases.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Leveraging pleat folds and soft compliant elements in inflatable fabric beams

Huaroto,

Suarez,

Kim

et al. 2024

Front. Robot. AI

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Inflatable fabric beams (IFBs) integrating pleat folds can generate complex motion by modifying the pleat characteristics (e.g., dimensions, orientations). However, the capability of the IFB to return to the folded configuration relies upon the elasticity of the fabrics, requiring additional pressure inputs or complementary mechanisms. Using soft compliant elements (SCEs) assembled onto pleat folds is an appealing approach to improving the IFB elasticity and providing a range of spatial configurations when pressurized. This study introduces an actuator comprising an IFB with pleat folds and SCEs. By methodologically assembling the SCEs onto the pleat folds, we constrain the IFB unfolding to achieve out-of-plane motion at 5 kPa. Besides, the proposed actuator can generate angular displacement by regulating the input pressure (> 5 kPa). A matrix-based representation and model are proposed to analyze the actuator motion. We experimentally study the actuator’s angular displacement by modifying SCE shapes, fold dimensions, and assembly distances of SCEs. Moreover, we analyze the effects of incorporating two SCEs onto a pleat fold. Our results show that the actuator motion can be tuned by integrating SCEs with different stiffness and varying the pleat fold dimensions. In addition, we demonstrate that the integration of two SCEs onto the pleat fold permits the actuator to return to its folded configuration when depressurized. In order to demonstrate the versatility of the proposed actuator, we devise and conduct experiments showcasing the implementation of a planar serial manipulator and a soft gripper with two grasping modalities.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Leveraging pleat folds and soft compliant elements in inflatable fabric beams

Huaroto,

Suarez,

Kim

et al. 2024

Front. Robot. AI

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Development of smart jacket for disc

Ozsahin

Almoqayad

Ghader

et al. 2022

Modern Practical Healthcare Issues in Biomedical Instrumentation

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A novel air microfluidics-enabled soft robotic sleeve: Toward realizing innovative lymphedema treatment

et al. 2022

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A proof of concept of a novel air microfluidics-enabled soft robotic sleeve to enable lymphedema treatment is presented. Compression sleeves represent the current, suboptimal standard of care, and stationary pumps assist with lymph drainage; however, effective systems that are truly wearable while performing daily activities are very scarce. This problematic trade-off between performance and wearability requires a new solution, which is addressed by an innovative microfluidic device. Its novelty lies in the use of light, small, and inexpensive air microfluidic chips (35 × 20 × 5 mm3 in size) that bring three major advantages compared to their traditional counterparts. First, each chip is designed with 16 fluidic channels with a cross-sectional area varying from 0.04 to 1 mm2, providing sequential inflation and uniform deflation capability to eight air bladders, thereby producing intentional gradient compression to the arm to facilitate lymph fluid circulation. The design is derived from the fundamentals of microfluidics, in particular, hydraulic resistance and paths of least resistance. Second, the air microfluidic chip enables miniaturization of at least eight bulky energy-consuming valves to two miniature solenoid valves for control increasing wearability. Third, the air microfluidic chip has no moving parts, which reduces the noise and energy needed. The cost, simplicity, and scale-up potential of developing methods for making the system are also detailed. The sequential inflation, uniform deflation, and pressure gradient are demonstrated, and the resulted compression and internal air bladder pressure were evaluated. This air microfluidics-enabled sleeve presents tremendous potential toward future improvements in self-care lymphedema management.

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Wearable Lymphedema Massaging Modules: Proof of Concept using Origami-inspired Soft Fabric Pneumatic Actuators

Cited by 6 publications

References 19 publications

Leveraging pleat folds and soft compliant elements in inflatable fabric beams

Leveraging pleat folds and soft compliant elements in inflatable fabric beams

Development of smart jacket for disc

A novel air microfluidics-enabled soft robotic sleeve: Toward realizing innovative lymphedema treatment

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