Arthro-Glove a Hybrid Bionic Glove for patients diagnosed with Arthritis, ALS and/or Dysmorphia

Abstract

This paper presents a portable, assistive, soft robotic glove designed to augment hand rehabilitation for individuals with arthritis disease or any other hand debilitating disease. The robotic glove utilizes soft glove reinforcement with stainless-steel wires that get driven by a set of stepper motors. These wires are located on the palmar side of the hand. They are embedded within the glove which makes the glove very thin and ergonomic. The actuation induces specific bending, twisting and extending trajectories that cope with the finger shape. The system is mechanically programmed to match and support the range of motion of individual fingers for each individual customer.Compared to existing devices, the soft robotic glove has the potential to increase user freedom and independence through its portable waist battery pack and compatibility design for both “Soft” and “Hard” states.