Rehabilitation exoskeleton for restoration of lost functions of the upper limb

Rehabilitation exoskeleton for restoration of lost functions of the upper limb

Evgeny I. Borzenko
Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Senior Research Scientist, National Research Tomsk State University, 36, prospect Lenina, Tomsk, 634050, Russia, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., ORCID: 0000-0001-6264-1776

Dmitry S. Zhdanov
Candidate of Engineering Sciences, Head of the Laboratory, National Research Tomsk State University, 36, prospect Lenina, Tomsk, 634050, Russia, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., ORCID: 0000-0002-8639-0681

Roman E. Makarov
laboratory assistant, National Research Tomsk State University, 36, prospect Lenina, Tomsk, 634050, Russia, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., ORCID: 0009-0008-3805-6874

UDC identifier: 616-77

EDN: BCJZUO

Abstract. The article presents an upgraded version of a mechatronic exoskeleton for a human hand, designed to restore the function of the upper limb of patients who have suffered a stroke or other injuries, and the results of its experimental studies. The device's performance was tested on a healthy person's hand, as well as using a hand model. The results obtained made it possible to develop criteria, compliance with which will allow for the refinement of the existing design and improvement of the functional characteristics of such devices, and to proceed to clinical trials on sick people.

Key words: exo-prosthesis, hand, upper limb, rehabilitation, construction, engine, Bowden cable, robotics, stroke, microcontroller

For citation: Borzenko, E.I., Zhdanov, D.S. and Makarov, R.E. (2025), "Rehabilitation exoskeleton for restoration of lost functions of the upper limb", Robotics and Technical Cybernetics, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 225-231, EDN: BCJZUO. (in Russian).

Acknowledgements
The results were obtained as part of the implementation of the state task of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia, project No. FSWM-2025-0020.

References

  1. Lum, P.S. et al. (2022), “Robot-assisted movement training compared with conventional therapy techniques for the rehabilitation of upper-limb motor function after stroke”, Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, v. 83, I.7, pp. 952–959, DOI:10.1053/apmr.2001.33101
  2. du Plessis, T., Djouani, K. and Oosthuizen, C. (2021), “A Review of Active Hand Exoskeletons for Rehabilitation and Assistance”, Robotics, v. 10, I.1., pp. 1-42, DOI: 10.3390/robotics10010040
  3. Hernando, D. et al. (2019), “Effect of yoga on pulse rate variability measured from a venous pressure waveform”, 41st Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC), pp. 372-375, DOI: 10.1109/embc.2019.8856657
  4. Copaci, D. et al. (2024), “sEMG-Controlled Soft Exo-Glove for Assistive Rehabilitation Therapies”, IEEE Access, v.12, pp. 43506-43518, DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2024.3380469
  5. Burov, G., Bolshakov, V., Belyanin, O. and Drobakha, A. (2019), “Innovative forearm prosthesis with simultaneous control of three functions of artificial hand”, Robotics and Technical Cybernetics, 7(3), pp. 233-239, DOI: 10.31776/RTCJ.7308. (in Russian).
  6. Afonin, A.N., Aleynikov, A.Yu., Gladyshev, A.R. and Popova, A.V. (2016), “Design And Implementation Of Bionic Hand Prosthesis Prototype”, Robotics and Technical Cybernetics, vol. 3, № 12, pp. 68-71, DOI: 10.31776/RTCJ.7308. (in Russian).
  7. Gerez, L., Chen, J. and Liarokapis, M. (2019), “On the Development of Adaptive, Tendon-Driven, Wearable Exo-Gloves for Grasping Capabilities Enhancement”, IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, v.4, I.2, pp. 422-429, DOI: 10.1109/LRA.2019.2890853
  8. Kang, B.B., Choi, H., Lee, H. and Cho, K.-J. (2019), “Exo-Glove Poly II: A Polymer-Based Soft Wearable Robot for the Hand with a Tendon-Driven Actuation System”, Soft Robotics, v. 6, I2., pp. 214-227, DOI:10.1089/soro.2018.0006
  9. Serrano, D., et al. (2023), “SMA-Based Soft Exo-Glove”, IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, v. 8, I.9, pp. 5448-5455, DOI: 10.1109/LRA.2023.3295994
  10.  Popov, D., Gaponov, I. and Ryu, J.-H. (2019), “Portable Exoskeleton Glove With Soft Structure for Hand Assistance in Activities of Daily Living”, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, v .22, I.2, pp. 865–875, DOI: 10.1109/tmech.2016.2641932
  11. Bagneschi, T. et al. (2023), “A Soft Hand Exoskeleton With a Novel Tendon Layout to Improve Stable Wearing in Grasping Assistance”, IEEE Transactions on Haptics, v .16, I.2, pp. 311-321, DOI: 10.1109/TOH.2023.3273908
  12. Rifky Ismail, Mochammad Ariyanto, Joga D. Setiawan and Taufik Hidayat (2023), Affordable Fabric-Based Portable Soft Exoskeleton for Hand Grasping Assistance in Daily Activity (1.0), [Online], available at:  https://10.5281/zenodo.7542701 (Accessed 23 December 2024).
  13. Borzenko, E.I. et al. (2024), “Mechatronic exoskeleton of the hand for rehabilitation after stroke”, Mechatronics, automation, control, 25(2), pp. 101-107, DOI: 10.17587/mau.25.101-107. (in Russian).
  14. Borzenko, E.I., Zhdanov, D.S., Makarov, R.E. and Utukin, V.M. (2023), “Development of a cable system of a wrist exoskeleton to restore lost limb function”, in Youth and modern information technologies: proceedings of the XX International scientific and practical Conference of students, postgraduates and young scientists, March 20-22, 2023 Tomsk, pp. 285-287. (in Russian).

Received 24.01.2025
Revised 31.03.2025
Accepted 27.04.2025