Design of a novel flexible assistive hand exoskeleton

Abstract

Hand paralysis caused by stroke, spinal cord injury, or neurological trauma has a significant impact on the independence and quality of life of the patients. The hand exoskeleton can provide hand assistance and improve the patient’s grasp. In this article, a novel wearable flexible hand exoskeleton is proposed to assist users in activities of daily life. To create a simple and lightweight assistive hand exoskeleton, 3D printing is used to manufacture most of the components, and a remote drive system is designed to reduce the weight of the hand exoskeleton. A ball pair device and a slider device are used to ensure the freedom of the thumb and the adaptability of the hand exoskeleton to different hand sizes. Finally, the experiments are conducted to verify that the hand exoskeleton can achieve motion assistance.