Title: Magnetic resonance compatible hand rehabilitation robot

Authors: Zhenjin Tang; Shigeki Sugano; Hiroyasu Iwata

Addresses: Department of Modern Mechanical Engineering, School of Creative Science and Technology, Waseda University, Tokyo 162-0042, Japan ' Department of Modern Mechanical Engineering, School of Creative Science and Technology, Waseda University, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan ' Department of Modern Mechanical Engineering, School of Creative Science and Technology, Waseda University, Tokyo 162-0042, Japan

Abstract: This paper presents the design, fabrication and evaluation of a magnetic resonance compatible finger rehabilitation robot, which can not only be used as a finger rehabilitation training tool after stroke, but also to study the brain's recovery process during the rehabilitation therapy (ReT). The mechanics of this robot are designed to be adjustable to different persons' finger phalanges, and also the gap between one finger to another can be easily changed. By using an ultrasonic motor as its actuator, it has been designed to be portable, with a high torque output. In addition, this robot also has been designed to overcome the intrinsic shortage of non-back drivability in ultrasonic motor, i.e., it can be used for both passive and active motion. The resulting system enables the patient to do extension and flexion rehabilitation exercises in two degrees of freedom (DOF) for each finger as well as one DOF motion on the thumb. Finally, experiments have been carried out to evaluate the performance of this robot.

Keywords: MRI compatible; hand rehabilitation; rehabilitation robots; stroke patients; magnetic resonance imaging; finger rehabilitation; rehabilitation training; brain recovery process; rehabilitation therapy; ultrasonic motors; robot actuators; robot design; robot motion; robot control; extension; flexion; robot performance; performance evaluation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMA.2013.053411

International Journal of Mechatronics and Automation, 2013 Vol.3 No.2, pp.132 - 140

Received: 14 Sep 2012
Accepted: 24 Jan 2013
Published online: 30 Apr 2014 *

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