Affiliations: [a] Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan | [b] Mackey Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
Correspondence:
[*]
Corresponding author: Chi-Ying Lin, Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei 106, Taiwan. E-mail:chiying@mail.ntust.edu.tw
Abstract: Almost all stroke patients experience a certain degree of
fine motor impairment, and impeded finger movement may limit activities in
daily life. Thus, to improve the quality of life of stroke patients,
designing an efficient training device for fine motor rehabilitation is
crucial. This study aimed to develop a novel fine motor training glove that
integrates a virtual-reality based interactive environment with vibrotactile
feedback for more effective post stroke hand rehabilitation. The proposed
haptic rehabilitation device is equipped with small DC vibration motors for
vibrotactile feedback stimulation and piezoresistive thin-film force sensors
for motor function evaluation. Two virtual-reality based games ``gopher
hitting'' and ``musical note hitting'' were developed as a haptic interface.
According to the designed rehabilitation program, patients intuitively push
and practice their fingers to improve the finger isolation function.
Preliminary tests were conducted to assess the feasibility of the developed
haptic rehabilitation system and to identify design concerns regarding the
practical use in future clinical testing.
Keywords: Hand rehabilitation, haptics, virtual reality, vibrotactile feedback, finger dexterity
