Dataset Information

Design and Preliminary Feasibility Study of a Soft Robotic Glove for Hand Function Assistance in Stroke Survivors.

ABSTRACT: Various robotic exoskeletons have been proposed for hand function assistance during activities of daily living (ADL) of stroke survivors. However, traditional exoskeletons involve the use of complex rigid systems that impede the natural movement of joints, and thus reduce the wearability and cause discomfort to the user. The objective of this paper is to design and evaluate a soft robotic glove that is able to provide hand function assistance using fabric-reinforced soft pneumatic actuators. These actuators are made of silicone rubber which has an elastic modulus similar to human tissues. Thus, they are intrinsically soft and compliant. Upon air pressurization, they are able to support finger range of motion (ROM) and generate the desired actuation of the finger joints. In this work, the soft actuators were characterized in terms of their blocked tip force, normal and frictional grip force outputs. Combining the soft actuators and flexible textile materials, a soft robotic glove was developed for grasping assistance during ADL for stroke survivors. The glove was evaluated on five healthy participants for its assisted ROM and grip strength. Pilot test was performed in two stroke survivors to evaluate the efficacy of the glove in assisting functional grasping activities. Our results demonstrated that the actuators designed in this study could generate desired force output at a low air pressure. The glove had a high kinematic transparency and did not affect the active ROM of the finger joints when it was being worn by the participants. With the assistance of the glove, the participants were able to perform grasping actions with sufficient assisted ROM and grip strength, without any voluntary effort. Additionally, pilot test on stroke survivors demonstrated that the patient's grasping performance improved with the presence and assistance of the glove. Patient feedback questionnaires also showed high level of patient satisfaction and comfort. In conclusion, this paper has demonstrated the possibility of using soft wearable exoskeletons that are more wearable, lightweight, and suitable to be used on a daily basis for hand function assistance of stroke survivors during activities of daily living.

SUBMITTER: Yap HK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5640819 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Design and Preliminary Feasibility Study of a Soft Robotic Glove for Hand Function Assistance in Stroke Survivors.

Yap Hong Kai HK Lim Jeong Hoon JH Nasrallah Fatima F Yeow Chen-Hua CH

Frontiers in neuroscience 20171009

Various robotic exoskeletons have been proposed for hand function assistance during activities of daily living (ADL) of stroke survivors. However, traditional exoskeletons involve the use of complex rigid systems that impede the natural movement of joints, and thus reduce the wearability and cause discomfort to the user. The objective of this paper is to design and evaluate a soft robotic glove that is able to provide hand function assistance using fabric-reinforced soft pneumatic actuators. The ...[more]

PMID: 29062267

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundSpinal cord injury is a devastating condition that can dramatically impact hand motor function. Passive and active assistive devices are becoming more commonly used to enhance lost hand strength and dexterity. Soft robotics is an emerging discipline that combines the classical principles of robotics with soft materials and could provide a new class of active assistive devices. Soft robotic assistive devices enable a human-robot interaction facilitated by compliant and light-weight structures. The scope of this work was to demonstrate that a fabric-based soft robotic glove can effectively assist participants affected by spinal cord injury in manipulating objects encountered in daily living.MethodsThe Toronto Rehabilitation Institute Hand Function Test was administered to 9 participants with C4-C7 spinal cord injuries to assess the functionality of the soft robotic glove. The test included object manipulation tasks commonly encountered during activities of daily living (ADL) and lift force measurements. The test was administered to each participant twice; once without the assistive glove to provide baseline data and once while wearing the assistive glove. The object manipulation subtests were evaluated using a linear mixed model, including interaction effects of variables such as time since injury. The lift force measures were separately evaluated using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test.ResultsThe soft robotic glove improved object manipulation in ADL tasks. The difference in mean scores between baseline and assisted conditions was significant across all participants and for all manipulated objects. An improvement of 33.42?±?15.43% relative to the maximal test score indicates that the glove sufficiently enhances hand function during ADL tasks. Moreover, lift force also increased when using the assistive soft robotic glove, further demonstrating the effectiveness of the device in assisting hand function.ConclusionsThe results gathered in this study validate our fabric-based soft robotic glove as an effective device to assist hand function in individuals who have suffered upper limb paralysis following a spinal cord injury.

Project description:BackgroundLoss of hand function following high level spinal cord injury (SCI) is perceived as a high priority area for rehabilitation. Following discharge, it is often impractical for the specialist care centre to provide ongoing therapy for people living with chronic SCI at home, which can lead to further deterioration of hand function and a direct impact on an individual's capability to perform essential activities of daily living (ADL).ObjectiveThis pilot study investigated the therapeutic effect of a self-administered home-based hand rehabilitation programme for people with cervical SCI using the soft extra muscle (SEM) Glove by Bioservo Technologies AB.MethodsFifteen participants with chronic cervical motor incomplete (AIS C and D) SCI were recruited and provided with the glove device to use at home to complete a set task and perform their usual ADL for a minimum of 4 h a day for 12 weeks. Assessment was made at Week 0 (Initial), 6, 12 and 18 (6-week follow-up). The primary outcome measure was the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute hand function test (TRI-HFT), with secondary outcome measures including pinch dynamometry and the modified Ashworth scale.ResultsThe TRI-HFT demonstrated improvement in hand function at Week 6 of the therapy including improvement in object manipulation (58.3 ±3.2 to 66.9 ±1.8, p ≈ 0.01), and palmar grasp assessed as the length of the wooden bar that can be held using a pronated palmar grip (29.1 ±6.0 cm to 45.8 ±6.8 cm, p <0.01). A significant improvement in pinch strength, with reduced thumb muscle hypertonia was also detected. Improvements in function were present during the Week 12 assessment and also during the follow-up.ConclusionsSelf-administered rehabilitation using the SEM Glove is effective for improving and retaining gross and fine hand motor function for people living with chronic spinal cord injury at home. Retention of improved hand function suggests that an intensive activity-based rehabilitation programme in specific individuals is sufficient to improve long-term neuromuscular activity. Future studies should characterise the neuromuscular mechanism of action and the minimal rehabilitation programme necessary with the assistive device to improve ADL tasks following chronic cervical SCI.Trial registration numberTrial registration: ISRCTN, ISRCTN98677526, Registered 01/June/2017 - Retrospectively registered, http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN98677526.

Project description:BackgroundStroke is a leading cause of serious gait impairments and restoring walking ability is a major goal of physical therapy interventions. Soft robotic exosuits are portable, lightweight, and unobtrusive assistive devices designed to improve the mobility of post-stroke individuals through facilitation of more natural paretic limb function during walking training. However, it is unknown whether long-term gait training using soft robotic exosuits will clinically impact gait function and quality of movement post-stroke.ObjectiveThe objective of this pilot study was to examine the therapeutic effects of soft robotic exosuit-augmented gait training on clinical and biomechanical gait outcomes in chronic post-stroke individuals.MethodsFive post-stroke individuals received high intensity gait training augmented with a soft robotic exosuit, delivered in 18 sessions over 6-8 weeks. Performance based clinical outcomes and biomechanical gait quality parameters were measured at baseline, midpoint, and completion.ResultsClinically meaningful improvements were observed in walking speed ([Formula: see text] < 0.05) and endurance ([Formula: see text] < 0.01) together with other traditional gait related outcomes. The gait quality measures including hip ([Formula: see text] < 0.01) and knee ([Formula: see text] < 0.05) flexion/extension exhibited an increase in range of motion in a symmetric manner ([Formula: see text] < 0.05). We also observed an increase in bilateral ankle angular velocities ([Formula: see text] < 0.05), suggesting biomechanical improvements in walking function.ConclusionsThe results in this study offer preliminary evidence that a soft robotic exosuit can be a useful tool to augment high intensity gait training in a clinical setting. This study justifies more expanded research on soft exosuit technology with a larger post-stroke population for more reliable generalization. Trial registration This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (ID: NCT04251091).

Project description:BackgroundDecline of hand function, especially reduced hand strength, is a common problem that can be caused by many disorders and results in difficulties performing activities of daily living. A wearable soft robotic glove may be a solution, enabling use of the affected arm and hand repeatedly during functional daily activities and providing intensive and task-specific training simultaneously with assistance of hand function.ObjectiveWe aim to investigate the therapeutic effect of an assistive soft robotic glove (Carbonhand).MethodsThis multicenter uncontrolled intervention study consists of 3 preassessments (T0, T1, and T2), a postassessment (T3), and a follow-up assessment (T4). Participants are patients who experience hand function limitations. For the intervention, participants will use the glove during activities of daily living at home for 6 weeks, with a recommended use of at least 180 minutes per week. The primary outcome measure is handgrip strength, and secondary outcome measures are related to functional arm and hand abilities, amount of glove use, and quality of life.ResultsThe first participant was included on June 25, 2019. Currently, the study has been extended due to the COVID-19 pandemic; data collection and analysis are expected to be completed in 2022.ConclusionsThe Carbonhand system is a wearable assistive device, allowing performance of functional activities to be enhanced directly during functional daily activities. At the same time, active movement of the user is encouraged as much as possible, which has potential to provide highly intensive and task-specific training. As such, it is one of the first assistive devices to incorporate assist-as-needed principles. This is the first powered clinical trial that investigates the unique application of an assistive grip-supporting soft robotic glove outside of clinical settings with the aim to have a therapeutic effect.Trial registrationNetherlands Trial Register NTR NL7561; https://www.trialregister.nl/trial/7561.International registered report identifier (irrid)DERR1-10.2196/34200.

Project description:BACKGROUND:The Hand Extension Robot Orthosis (HERO) Grip Glove was iteratively designed to meet requests from therapists and persons after a stroke who have severe hand impairment to create a device that extends all five fingers, enhances grip strength and is portable, lightweight, easy to put on, comfortable and affordable. METHODS:Eleven persons who have minimal or no active finger extension (Chedoke McMaster Stage of Hand 1-4) post-stroke were recruited to evaluate how well they could perform activities of daily living and finger function assessments with and without wearing the HERO Grip Glove. RESULTS:The 11 participants showed statistically significant improvements (p?<?0.01), while wearing the HERO Grip Glove, in the water bottle grasp and manipulation task (increase of 2.3 points, SD 1.2, scored using the Chedoke Hand and Arm Inventory scale from 1 to 7) and in index finger extension (increase of 147o, SD 44) and range of motion (increase of 145o, SD 36). The HERO Grip Glove provided 12.7?N (SD 8.9?N) of grip force and 11.0?N (SD 4.8) of pinch force to their affected hands, which enabled those without grip strength to grasp and manipulate blocks, a fork and a water bottle, as well as write with a pen. The participants were 'more or less satisfied' with the HERO Grip Glove as an assistive device (average of 3.3 out of 5 on the Quebec User Evaluation of Satisfaction with Assistive Technology 2.0 Scale). The highest satisfaction scores were given for safety and security (4.6) and ease of use (3.8) and the lowest satisfaction scores were given for ease of donning (2.3), which required under 5?min with assistance. The most common requests were for greater grip strength and a smaller glove size for small hands. CONCLUSIONS:The HERO Grip Glove is a safe and effective tool for enabling persons with a stroke that have severe hand impairment to incorporate their affected hand into activities of daily living, which may motivate greater use of the affected upper extremity in daily life to stimulate neuromuscular recovery.

Project description:Recently, extratheses, aka Supernumerary Robotic Limbs (SRLs), are emerging as a new trend in the field of assistive and rehabilitation devices. We proposed the SoftHand X, a system composed of an anthropomorphic soft hand extrathesis, with a gravity support boom and a control interface for the patient. In preliminary tests, the system exhibited a positive outlook toward assisting impaired people during daily life activities and fighting learned-non-use of the impaired arm. However, similar to many robot-aided therapies, the use of the system may induce side effects that can be detrimental and worsen patients' conditions. One of the most common is the onset of alternative grasping strategies and compensatory movements, which clinicians absolutely need to counter in physical therapy. Before embarking in systematic experimentation with the SoftHand X on patients, it is essential that the system is demonstrated not to lead to an increase of compensation habits. This paper provides a detailed description of the compensatory movements performed by healthy subjects using the SoftHand X. Eleven right-handed healthy subjects were involved within an experimental protocol in which kinematic data of the upper body and EMG signals of the arm were acquired. Each subject executed tasks with and without the robotic system, considering this last situation as reference of optimal behavior. A comparison between two different configurations of the robotic hand was performed to understand if this aspect may affect the compensatory movements. Results demonstrated that the use of the apparatus reduces the range of motion of the wrist, elbow and shoulder, while it increases the range of the trunk and head movements. On the other hand, EMG analysis indicated that muscle activation was very similar among all the conditions. Results obtained suggest that the system may be used as assistive device without causing an over-use of the arm joints, and opens the way to clinical trials with patients.

Dataset Information

Design and Preliminary Feasibility Study of a Soft Robotic Glove for Hand Function Assistance in Stroke Survivors.

Publications

Design and Preliminary Feasibility Study of a Soft Robotic Glove for Hand Function Assistance in Stroke Survivors.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets