Researchers have succeeded in adding finger straightening or extension to soft rehabilitation gloves through a novel foldable pouch actuator (FPA) without compromising the already existing functionality of finger bending or flexion.

The novel FPA seamlessly integrates with existing soft actuators in the rehabilitation gloves. The FPA is the first-ever joint-modular bi-directional soft actuator. It comprises a single sheet flat, foldable structure that expands only when it is pressurized, thus generating the requisite force for finger extension.

The FPA facilitates finger extension in the soft rehabilitation gloves without compromising the existing functionality offered by the other soft actuators, such as finger flexion realized by fiber-reinforced elastomer-based actuators. They confirmed their findings through tests on a synthetic finger model. Results from the model showed that the integrated soft actuator could produce sufficient torque (force) for the required finger movements, including a joint bending torque of 0.17 Nm and an estimated straightening torque of 0.12 Nm. (Image Credit: Prof. Wenwei Yu/Chiba University, Japan)

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Topics:
Anatomy Assistive Robotics Body regions Electronic Components Hand Medical Medical equipment and supplies Medical, health and wellness Rehabilitation and physical therapy Sensors and actuators Wearables

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    This article first appeared in the November, 2024 issue of Medical Design Briefs Magazine (Vol. 14 No. 11).

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