Decoupled, wearable soft robotic rehabilitation device for the upper limb
Lightweight, adjustable, and affordable devices are needed to enable the next generation of effective, wearable adjuncts for rehabilitation. Used at home or in a rehabilitation setting, these devices have the potential to reduce compound pressures on hospitals and social care systems. Despite recent...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Wearable Technologies |
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| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2631717625100182/type/journal_article |
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| author | James Greig Mhairi McInnes Edward K. Chadwick Maria Elena Giannaccini |
| author_facet | James Greig Mhairi McInnes Edward K. Chadwick Maria Elena Giannaccini |
| author_sort | James Greig |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Lightweight, adjustable, and affordable devices are needed to enable the next generation of effective, wearable adjuncts for rehabilitation. Used at home or in a rehabilitation setting, these devices have the potential to reduce compound pressures on hospitals and social care systems. Despite recent developments in soft wearable robots, many of these devices restrict the range of motion and lack quantitative assessment of moment transfer to the wearer. The decoupled design of our wearable device for upper-limb rehabilitation successfully delivers almost the full range of motion to the user, with a mean maximum flexion angle of 149° (SD = 8.5). In this article, for the first time, we show that in tests involving a wide range of participants, 82% of the moment produced by the actuator is applied to the wearer. This testing of elbow flexion moment transfer supports the effectiveness of the device. This research is a step toward effective pneumatic soft robotic wearable devices that are adaptable to a wide range of users – a necessary prerequisite for their widespread adoption in health care. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-266d12d5571e4a979e2f0bcffcbc6a0c |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2631-7176 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Wearable Technologies |
| spelling | doaj-art-266d12d5571e4a979e2f0bcffcbc6a0c2025-08-20T04:00:32ZengCambridge University PressWearable Technologies2631-71762025-01-01610.1017/wtc.2025.10018Decoupled, wearable soft robotic rehabilitation device for the upper limbJames Greig0Mhairi McInnes1Edward K. Chadwick2Maria Elena Giannaccini3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0871-4804School of Engineering, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UKSchool of Engineering, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UKSchool of Engineering, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UKSchool of Engineering, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK School of Computer Science, https://ror.org/01ee9ar58 University of Nottingham , Nottingham, UKLightweight, adjustable, and affordable devices are needed to enable the next generation of effective, wearable adjuncts for rehabilitation. Used at home or in a rehabilitation setting, these devices have the potential to reduce compound pressures on hospitals and social care systems. Despite recent developments in soft wearable robots, many of these devices restrict the range of motion and lack quantitative assessment of moment transfer to the wearer. The decoupled design of our wearable device for upper-limb rehabilitation successfully delivers almost the full range of motion to the user, with a mean maximum flexion angle of 149° (SD = 8.5). In this article, for the first time, we show that in tests involving a wide range of participants, 82% of the moment produced by the actuator is applied to the wearer. This testing of elbow flexion moment transfer supports the effectiveness of the device. This research is a step toward effective pneumatic soft robotic wearable devices that are adaptable to a wide range of users – a necessary prerequisite for their widespread adoption in health care.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2631717625100182/type/journal_articlebiomechanicsdesignexosuitsrehabilitation roboticssoft wearable robotics |
| spellingShingle | James Greig Mhairi McInnes Edward K. Chadwick Maria Elena Giannaccini Decoupled, wearable soft robotic rehabilitation device for the upper limb Wearable Technologies biomechanics design exosuits rehabilitation robotics soft wearable robotics |
| title | Decoupled, wearable soft robotic rehabilitation device for the upper limb |
| title_full | Decoupled, wearable soft robotic rehabilitation device for the upper limb |
| title_fullStr | Decoupled, wearable soft robotic rehabilitation device for the upper limb |
| title_full_unstemmed | Decoupled, wearable soft robotic rehabilitation device for the upper limb |
| title_short | Decoupled, wearable soft robotic rehabilitation device for the upper limb |
| title_sort | decoupled wearable soft robotic rehabilitation device for the upper limb |
| topic | biomechanics design exosuits rehabilitation robotics soft wearable robotics |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2631717625100182/type/journal_article |
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