A portable rehabilitation device for the Hand

Abstract

This paper presents the design of a direct driven under-actuated portable hand exoskeleton for rehabilitation. The design of the proposed Hand EXOskeleton SYStem (HEXOSYS) was driven by multi-objective optimisation strategy and inspiration from the human hand. The optimisation algorithm resulted in the choice of optimum link lengths of the device. The optimisation criteria are based on dexterity, isotropy and exertion of perpendicular forces on the finger digits. Furthermore, a series of experiments on the human hand using appropriate sensory instrumentation guided the selection of actuators thereby resulting in a rehabilitation device which is compatible with the human hand force capabilities. The provision of force as well as position feedback gives quantitative feedback to the therapist and would imply a more efficient rehabilitation process. The first prototype of the device has been designed and realized.