Designing the mechanical parts of a low-cost hand rehabilitation CPM device for stroke patients

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to introduce hand rehabilitation end-effector-based mechanical design that can be used by the post stroke patients for improving their hand recovery process after the hand injury caused by stroke. The reason behind of creating this mechanical design is to help the therapists in treatment of the hand after the stroke and follow the natural movement of the fingers during the rehabilitation therapy. Stroke victims often lose proper function of at least one hand and fingers, experiencing delays in gripping and releasing ability. This paper is focused on designing the mechanical assemblies of the Continues Passive Motion (CPM) device. The mechanical design has been divided to two assemblies, one discussing the fingers rehabilitation CPM device after the hand injury or stroke, secondly, it presents the mechanism movement and the Degree of Freedom (DOF) of the hand rehabilitation machine. Strict clinical requirements are involved in designing this system like the Mechanical parts must be sterilisable, movable, safe, fingers attachment setting duration, and effective system having low cost profile.