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Design of a Single-Degree-of-Freedom Exoskeleton for Thumb Rehabilitation in Conjunction with FINGER

Citation

Morse, Kyle. (2015). Design of a Single-Degree-of-Freedom Exoskeleton for Thumb Rehabilitation in Conjunction with FINGER. Theses and Dissertations Collection, University of Idaho Library Digital Collections. https://www.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/etd/items/morse_idaho_0089n_10669.html

Title:
Design of a Single-Degree-of-Freedom Exoskeleton for Thumb Rehabilitation in Conjunction with FINGER
Author:
Morse, Kyle
Date:
2015
Embargo Remove Date:
2017-07-16
Keywords:
exoskeleton mechanism rehabilitation robot synthesis thumb
Program:
Mechanical Engineering
Subject Category:
Robotics; Mechanical engineering; Physical therapy
Abstract:

This thesis presents the development of an exoskeleton for post-stroke thumb rehabilitation. This exoskeleton is a six-bar planar single-degree-of-freedom mechanism that controls the position and angle of the middle phalanx of the thumb. It is an add-on for the finger rehabilitation device FINGER for grasp training, which is a fundamental activity of daily living.

The trajectory of the middle phalanx of a healthy human thumb was characterized with color-marker based motion tracking. Mechanisms were synthesized by minimizing the error between the end-effector of the mechanism solutions and the trajectory of the thumb. A mechanism solution was selected for design based on its manufacturability and mechanical advantage. Both the mechanism and an adjustable module to attach the mechanism to the housing for FINGER were designed, then manufactured using a combination of additive manufacturing and CNC machining. This provided a prototype for evaluation to inform future design efforts.

Description:
masters, M.S., Mechanical Engineering -- University of Idaho - College of Graduate Studies, 2015
Major Professor:
Wolbrecht, Eric T
Committee:
Perry, Joel C; Riley, Matthew E
Defense Date:
2015
Identifier:
Morse_idaho_0089N_10669
Type:
Text
Format Original:
PDF
Format:
application/pdf

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