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arXiv · 2110.02258

Thumb Stabilization and Assistance in a Robotic Hand Orthosis for Post-Stroke Hemiparesis

Ava Chen·Lauren Winterbottom·Sangwoo Park·Jingxi Xu·Dawn Nilsen·Joel Stein·Matei Ciocarlie
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Abstract

We propose a dual-cable method of stabilizing the thumb in the context of a hand orthosis designed for individuals with upper extremity hemiparesis after stroke. This cable network adds opposition/reposition capabilities to the thumb, and increases the likelihood of forming a hand pose that can successfully manipulate objects. In addition to a passive-thumb version (where both cables are of fixed length), our approach also allows for a single-actuator active-thumb version (where the extension cable is actuated while the abductor remains passive), which allows a range of motion intended to facilitate creating and maintaining grasps. We performed experiments with five chronic stroke survivors consisting of unimanual resistive-pull tasks and bimanual twisting tasks with simulated real-world objects; these explored the effects of thumb assistance on grasp stability and functional range of motion. Our results show that both active- and passive-thumb versions achieved similar performance in terms of improving grasp force generation over a no-device baseline, but active thumb stabilization enabled users to maintain grasps for longer durations.

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Ava Chen, Lauren Winterbottom, Sangwoo Park, Jingxi Xu, Dawn Nilsen, Joel Stein, Matei Ciocarlie. 2022-05-10. Thumb Stabilization and Assistance in a Robotic Hand Orthosis for Post-Stroke Hemiparesis. https://arxiv.org/abs/2110.02258

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