Passive hand rehabilitation: Soft-actuated finger mobilizer

Abstract

Stroke is one of the top five diseases in Malaysia contributing to major morbidity and mortality not only in Malaysia but in the whole world. Severe stroke can lead to death while the stroke survivors will face weakness (flaccid), spasticity and decrease in proprioceptive sensation depending on the affected part of the brain. The cost of rehabilitation session as well as the restriction in mobility demotivates the patient to undergo rehabilitation therapy in occupational therapy. A portable, lightweight and low cost device was proposed for finger mobilizer specifies for these patients. In order to develop the device, we need to consider muscle conditions of the patient which is muscle spasticity and muscle flaccid. After considering the condition of the patient and the efficiency of the device used, the most suitable design which incorporated the concept of soft actuated finger mobilize is chosen. A glovelike device which uses the application of air pressure as the mobility mechanisms was identified as the most suitable concept for this project. The final design was fabricated and tested on five normal subjects with no pathological condition of the hand. Quantitative analysis was conducted to acquire public opinion on the prototype produced. Nearly all of them agreed on this concept although a lot of improvement needs to be done regarding the design of the prototype.