Evaluation of Fiber-Reinforced Modular Soft Actuators for Individualized Soft Rehabilitation Gloves
Applying soft actuators to hand motion assist for rehabilitation has been receiving increasing interest in recent years. Pioneering research efforts have shown the feasibility of soft rehabilitation gloves (SRGs). However, one important and practical issue, the effects of users’ individual differenc...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-03-01
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| Series: | Actuators |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0825/11/3/84 |
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| author | Shota Kokubu Yuanyuan Wang Pablo E. Tortós Vinocour Yuxi Lu Shaoying Huang Reiji Nishimura Ya-Hsin Hsueh Wenwei Yu |
| author_facet | Shota Kokubu Yuanyuan Wang Pablo E. Tortós Vinocour Yuxi Lu Shaoying Huang Reiji Nishimura Ya-Hsin Hsueh Wenwei Yu |
| author_sort | Shota Kokubu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Applying soft actuators to hand motion assist for rehabilitation has been receiving increasing interest in recent years. Pioneering research efforts have shown the feasibility of soft rehabilitation gloves (SRGs). However, one important and practical issue, the effects of users’ individual differences in finger size and joint stiffness on both bending performance (e.g., Range of motion (ROM) and torque) and the mechanical loads applied to finger joints when the actuators are placed on a patient’s hand, has not been well investigated. Moreover, the design considerations of SRGs for individual users, considering individual differences, have not been addressed. These, along with the inherent safety of soft actuators, should be investigated carefully before the practical use of SRGs. This work aimed to clarify the effects of individual differences on the actuator’s performance through a series of experiments using dummy fingers designed with individualized parameters. Two types of fiber-reinforced soft actuators, the modular type for assisting each joint and conventional (whole-finger assist) type, were designed and compared. It was found that the modular soft actuators respond better to individual differences set in the experiment and exhibit a superior performance to the conventional ones. By suitable connectors and air pressure, the modular soft actuators could cope with the individual differences with minimal effort. The effects of the individualized parameters are discussed, and design considerations are extracted and summarized. This study will play an important role in pushing forward the SRGs to real rehabilitation practice. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T20:14:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9545492fa7514743872e116772e85ecb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-0825 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T20:14:43Z |
| publishDate | 2022-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Actuators |
| spelling | doaj.art-9545492fa7514743872e116772e85ecb2023-11-24T00:04:48ZengMDPI AGActuators2076-08252022-03-011138410.3390/act11030084Evaluation of Fiber-Reinforced Modular Soft Actuators for Individualized Soft Rehabilitation GlovesShota Kokubu0Yuanyuan Wang1Pablo E. Tortós Vinocour2Yuxi Lu3Shaoying Huang4Reiji Nishimura5Ya-Hsin Hsueh6Wenwei Yu7Department of Medical Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Chiba University, Chiba 263-8522, JapanDepartment of Medical Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Chiba University, Chiba 263-8522, JapanDepartment of Medical Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Chiba University, Chiba 263-8522, JapanDepartment of Medical Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Chiba University, Chiba 263-8522, JapanEngineering Product Development, Singapore University of Technology and Design, Singapore 487372, SingaporeDepartment of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo 105-8461, JapanDepartment of Electronic Engineering, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Yunlin 64002, TaiwanDepartment of Medical Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Chiba University, Chiba 263-8522, JapanApplying soft actuators to hand motion assist for rehabilitation has been receiving increasing interest in recent years. Pioneering research efforts have shown the feasibility of soft rehabilitation gloves (SRGs). However, one important and practical issue, the effects of users’ individual differences in finger size and joint stiffness on both bending performance (e.g., Range of motion (ROM) and torque) and the mechanical loads applied to finger joints when the actuators are placed on a patient’s hand, has not been well investigated. Moreover, the design considerations of SRGs for individual users, considering individual differences, have not been addressed. These, along with the inherent safety of soft actuators, should be investigated carefully before the practical use of SRGs. This work aimed to clarify the effects of individual differences on the actuator’s performance through a series of experiments using dummy fingers designed with individualized parameters. Two types of fiber-reinforced soft actuators, the modular type for assisting each joint and conventional (whole-finger assist) type, were designed and compared. It was found that the modular soft actuators respond better to individual differences set in the experiment and exhibit a superior performance to the conventional ones. By suitable connectors and air pressure, the modular soft actuators could cope with the individual differences with minimal effort. The effects of the individualized parameters are discussed, and design considerations are extracted and summarized. This study will play an important role in pushing forward the SRGs to real rehabilitation practice.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0825/11/3/84soft roboticshand rehabilitationhand finger motion assistsoft actuatorsflexionpassive extension |
| spellingShingle | Shota Kokubu Yuanyuan Wang Pablo E. Tortós Vinocour Yuxi Lu Shaoying Huang Reiji Nishimura Ya-Hsin Hsueh Wenwei Yu Evaluation of Fiber-Reinforced Modular Soft Actuators for Individualized Soft Rehabilitation Gloves Actuators soft robotics hand rehabilitation hand finger motion assist soft actuators flexion passive extension |
| title | Evaluation of Fiber-Reinforced Modular Soft Actuators for Individualized Soft Rehabilitation Gloves |
| title_full | Evaluation of Fiber-Reinforced Modular Soft Actuators for Individualized Soft Rehabilitation Gloves |
| title_fullStr | Evaluation of Fiber-Reinforced Modular Soft Actuators for Individualized Soft Rehabilitation Gloves |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evaluation of Fiber-Reinforced Modular Soft Actuators for Individualized Soft Rehabilitation Gloves |
| title_short | Evaluation of Fiber-Reinforced Modular Soft Actuators for Individualized Soft Rehabilitation Gloves |
| title_sort | evaluation of fiber reinforced modular soft actuators for individualized soft rehabilitation gloves |
| topic | soft robotics hand rehabilitation hand finger motion assist soft actuators flexion passive extension |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0825/11/3/84 |
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