Hand exoskeleton for rehabilitation therapies with integrated optical force sensor
Hand exoskeleton for rehabilitation therapies with integrated optical force sensor
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DOI：
10.1177/1687814017753881
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发表时间：
2018-02-05
影响因子：
2.1
通讯作者：
Garcia-Aracil, Nicolas
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Diez, Jorge A.;Blanco, Andrea;Garcia-Aracil, Nicolas
本文提出了一种手外骨骼的设计，其特点是其模块化和集成在其框架的力传感器的可能性。模块化是通过将外骨骼分成单独的单元来实现的，每个单元驱动一个手指或一对手指。这些单元或“手指模块”具有单个自由度，并且可以通过卡扣固定件容易地附接至机器人框架和人类手指或从机器人框架和人类手指移除。至于力传感能力，该设备依赖于一种新型的力传感器，该传感器使用光学元件来放大和测量机器人结构中的微小弹性变形。该传感器可以完全集成为手指模块的结构元件。所提出的技术已在两个实验会话中得到验证。第一项研究是在临床环境中进行的，以便检查手外骨骼（没有集成的力传感器）是否可以在“镜像治疗”环境中成功地移动受损的手。第二项研究是对健康受试者进行的，以检查使用集成力传感器作为人机界面的技术可行性。
This article presents the design of a hand exoskeleton that features its modularity and the possibility of integrating a force sensor in its frame. The modularity is achieved by dividing the exoskeleton in separate units, each one driving a finger or pair of them. These units or "finger modules" have a single degree of freedom and may be easily attached or removed from the robot frame and human fingers by snap-in fixations. As for the force sensing capability, the device relies on a novel force sensor that uses optical elements to amplify and measure small elastic deformations in the robot structure. This sensor can be fully integrated as a structural element of the finger module. The proposed technology has been validated in two experimental sessions. A first study was performed in a clinical environment in order to check whether the hand exoskeleton (without the integrated force sensor) can successfully move an impaired hand in a "Mirror Therapy" environment. A second study was carried with healthy subjects to check the technical feasibility of using the integrated force sensor as a human-machine interface.