Abstract
Hand dysfunction in stroke patients often seriously affects their daily life. To solve the problems of long rehabilitation training time for patients and high workload for doctors, this paper introduces a soft exoskeleton glove with a simple structure and low cost. The glove is characterized by the addition of segmental limit layer in each actuator and spreading air chambers in the MCP joints to increase the comfort of glove wear and stability during movement. The upper part of the actuator is a strain layer consisting of a pneumatic elastic chamber, and the lower part is a strain-limiting layer made of carbon fiber. Then, by calculating the shape variables of individual air chambers and the bending moment experienced by the entire exoskeleton, the relationship between air pressure and the deformation angle of the exoskeleton was established. Finite element software was used to simulate pressure on the soft exoskeleton, confirming the feasibility of the exoskeleton structure. Finally, based on the six-stage rehabilitation experiment, the rehabilitation gloves were experimentally validated for three actions: grasping, finger opposition, and object grasping. The experimental results demonstrate that, with the assistance of the exoskeleton, the range of motion of each finger approaches that of a healthy hand. At a driving pressure of 0.3 MPa, the maximum fingertip force reaches 10.2 N, which is sufficient to meet the functional requirements of daily activities.
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