Title :
Finger exoskeleton for treatment of tendon injuries
Author :
Ertas, I.H. ; Hocaoglu, Ertas Elif ; Barkana, Duygun Erol ; Patoglu, Volkan
Author_Institution :
Fac. of Eng. & Natural Sci., Sabanci Univ., Istanbul, Turkey
Abstract :
A finger exoskeleton has been developed to aid treatment of tendon injuries. The exoskeleton is designed to assist flexion/extension motions of a finger within its full range, in a natural and coordinated manner, while keeping the tendon tension within acceptable limits to avoid gap formation or rupture of the suture. In addition to offering robot assisted operation modes for tendon therapies, the exoskeleton can provide quantitative measures of recovery that can help guide the physical therapy program. Usability studies have been conducted and efficacy of exoskeleton driven exercises to reduce muscle requitement levels has been demonstrated.
Keywords :
biomechanics; patient treatment; exoskeleton driven exercises; finger exoskeleton; flexion-extension motions; patient treatment; physical therapy program; robot assisted operation modes; tendon injury; tendon therapy; Adhesives; Exoskeletons; Fingers; Injuries; Medical treatment; Muscles; Protocols; Rehabilitation robotics; Tendons; Wrist;
Conference_Titel :
Rehabilitation Robotics, 2009. ICORR 2009. IEEE International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Kyoto International Conference Center
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-3788-7
Electronic_ISBN :
1945-7898
DOI :
10.1109/ICORR.2009.5209487