Design of a wearable hand exoskeleton system for evaluation of hand functions

Abstract

Nowadays, as the number of patients due to stroke increases, interest in rehabilitation treatment has increased and various rehabilitation treatment methods have been developed. In addition, since effective rehabilitation treatment requires quantitative and objective motor function evaluation, several devices were developed and studied. In case of the hand, however, the device which evaluates the hand functions rarely developed because of the space limitation and the complex structure of hand. Therefore, this study aims to design a wearable exoskeleton system capable of evaluating hand functions such as spasticity, finger independence and multi-digit synergy. The designed hand exoskeleton consists of serially connected 4-bar linkages and two rotary actuators for each finger. Thus, MCP and PIP joints can be moved independently, and each joint angle can be measured separately. For DIP joint, the torsion spring was used to move the joint passively. Also, loadcells were attached to each phalanx for measuring external force to the each phalanx. Possible applications are discussed in the conclusion part.