Helping-Hand: A data glove technology for rehabilitation of monoplegia patients

Monoplegia is a paralysis of a single limb; usually an arm and patients having monoplegia usually cannot regain their full-potential. Physical therapy is most beneficial for the treatment of monoplegia. However, this physical therapy includes monotonous exercises which seems dull to the patient. Computer assisted technology may be used to assist the patient for doing the physical exercises more effectively and enjoyably. In this paper, we present a computer controlled electronic device called `Helping Hand´ that can be used for the rehabilitation process of monoplegia patients by assisting him/her in physical therapy sessions. The system collects data of upper limb movements of patients for analysis and generates a report based on analysis. Finally, this report will be sent to the doctor for observing the improvement of rehabilitation phase of the patient. This system can reduce the workload of physical therapists and improve the effect of rehabilitation exercise for upper limb monoplegia patients.