HAND MOVEMENT GLOVE FOR CHILD WITH TITINOPATHY

Abstract

Patients with titinopathy or hand paralysis often lack quality, low cost therapeutic tools to aid in gaining hand strength and range of motion. As a result, our team sought to develop a way to increase flexion and passive motion in the hand of a patient with titinopathy in order to gain functionality. This paper outlines the design and development of a novel therapeutic glove for a 4 year old boy with a neuromuscular disease that prevents him from flexing the two distal joints of his fingers. The team has developed a low-cost hand movement glove (HMG) to be used as a supplement to traditional physical therapy. The device utilizes a motor-cable system secured to each finger, allowing for independent and synchronized flexion of each finger. Phase I of prototyping resulted in a working model to assess the finger movement mechanism and overall wearability of the device. Phase II utilized an Arduino Uno microcontroller, circuit switch, PCA9685 driver board, micro servo motors, a cotton woven glove, and 3-D printed components to characterize a more robust model allowing independent flexion of each finger. Initial testing has proven the device’s ability to achieve physiologically relevant degrees of flexion in each finger. Upon completion of further testing, we anticipate this device having a profound impact as an additional tool utilized in the patient’s physical therapy regimen to allow for regained flexion at both proximal and distal interphalangeal joints.