Pneumatic muscle actuated wrist rehabilitation equipment based on the Fin Ray principle

Abstract

Rehabilitation of the hand entails the deployment of equipment that, by motion, accelerates the regaining of its specific functions and allow the swift social reintegration of patients at a minimum cost. In this context, the paper presents and discusses a pneumatic muscle actuated piece of equipment that allows the simultaneous rehabilitation of the radiocarpal, metacarpophalangeal and interphalangeal joints. The main novelty of this equipment consists in the solution selected for the support and mobilization of the hand; the construction put forward is based on a couple of bar mechanisms that form a Fin Ray type structure, specific to fish fins. The paper presents the constructive solution, the structure of the actuation system and the experimental results that highlight both the benefits and disadvantages of the proposed equipment. Of particular interest is the compliance of the system that contributes to its adaptability to the particular pain threshold of the patient.