Soft-robotic Glove Support of High-demand Tasks

In the researchers' words

The hand is important to perform activities of daily living (ADL). However, many people experience a loss of hand function as result of a traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, stroke or orthopedic problems, or due to ageing. To improve hand function, or reduce its decline, one can benefit from exercise therapy or use of assistive aids to improve ADL independence. A promising innovative approach combining both is a wearable soft-robotic glove that supports hand grip. With this glove, performance of functional activities can be supported directly, while also facilitating repeated use of the affected arm and hand during functional daily activities. One of our previous studies showed that besides a direct support effect, a therapeutic effect on performance was found after several weeks of using the soft-robotic glove as support during ADL. However, several participants reported complaints of increased pain and/or overload, mainly at the beginning of the trial. Clinicians suspect that a (too) high intensity of hand use compared to normal is contributing to this observation. This might be related to more fatigue experienced when using the glove in high-demand tasks, due to a larger movement capacity (faster, further, more repetitions) and can be associated with decreased blood perfusion/lower saturation levels at muscular level and altered muscle activation and movement…