What is it about?
Paralysis has affected almost 750000 people out of which 80% are left with one of their limbs weakened. Rehabilitation is the process of regaining the muscle movement by repeating the hand movement artificially. In this contemporary research, an Exo-glove and Exo-arm were fabricated and tested which will allow mobility and rehabilitation of fingers as well as the arm. Bowden cables are used for force transmission and are affixed to the fingers with the help of 3-D printed guides. The Exo-arm comprises a servo motor attached to a 4 bar link mechanism. The system is controlled by a joystick analog input. A 5kg-cm servo motor is used to actuate the fingers via the cable mechanism which enables flexibility. The cable is wound around a pulley of 9cm diameter and is mounted on the housing to maintain the tension of the cable. The arm was actuated using a 20kg-cm servo motor that drives the link mechanism and conveys a force to move the forearm. Testing of the Exo-glove and Exo-arm reveals the ease with which it can grasp and lift smaller objects. Implementing optimization in the design of the guide, using less-stranded wire, and high torque servo motor will widen the range of objects that can be grasped and raised. This will allow the smooth functioning of the system.
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Why is it important?
Paralysis is the forfeiture of gait which is due to the wake of injuries such as spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, stroke. These injuries could lead the patient to lose complete control of their body or a part of the body. It violates the muscle movement due to which the victim loses the ability to perform simple day-to-day activities for example walking, standing, holding an object, etc. Tetraplegic is the one who is completely disabled. A soft wearable exoskeleton could assist them to perform these tasks. Such devices shouldn’t deter the natural movement, thereby providing flexibility and range of motion to that part.
Perspectives
Prosthetics and exoskeleton are the solutions for these kinds of diseases, that being researched and implemented to the patients by making them durable, lightweight, more complaint, and adaptable to the environment. These devices provide more natural mobility, dexterity, and a sense of touch which are paced by a paralyzed individual
Mr Arunabha Majumder
Siddaganga Institute of Technolgy
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Design and Fabrication of Rehabilitation-based Exoskeleton for Paralytic Arm, September 2020, Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers (IEEE),
DOI: 10.1109/icosec49089.2020.9215455.
You can read the full text:
Resources
Exoskeleton for paralytic arm - TATA Technologies Sponsored, a Project under "PRAYATNA"
Human beings have evolutionarily developed movement on pair of limbs which provides the coherent benefit of minute energy consumption. But this slick motion can also be hindered due to a diverse set of reasons like stroke, accidents, and so on. The survivors are rendered with weakened limbs and require substantial effort in rehabilitation and regain routine gait. So, our objective in this project is directed at developing a novel type of exoskeleton to facilitate easy movement of the arm of a paralytic individual and also enabling them to work at their own efficiency involving daily chores.
Exoskeleton for Paralytic Arm
Human beings have evolutionarily developed movement on pair of limbs which provides the coherent benefit of minute energy consumption. But this slick motion can also be hindered due to a diverse set of reasons like stroke, accidents, and so on. The survivors are rendered with weakened limbs and require substantial effort in rehabilitation and regain routine gait. So, our objective in this project is directed at developing a novel type of exoskeleton to facilitate easy movement of the arm of a paralytic individual and also enabling them to work at their efficiency involving daily chores
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