PRSX: An End-Effector for Pronation and Supination Adaptable to Arm Rehabilitation Devices

Abstract

One fundamental exercise for the upper extremity rehabilitation is the arm pronosupination, few rehabilitation devices can perform this exercise together with elbow or shoulder movements. The main contribution of this paper is the design and construction of a mechanical device for the pronosupination movement that can be easily mounted on commercially available arm rehabilitation systems. The proposed mechanical device can operate automatically, actuated by a motor, or manually actuated by the patient’s hand. It also has an optical sensor that provides the Cartesian coordinates of its center in the horizontal plane; these coordinates can be used in a graphical user interface. The proposal includes a virtual interface that helps the patient to perform rehabilitation tasks through interactive games to observe the progress of rehabilitation and also to provide a friendly device to reduce stress during the rehabilitation process.