DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF BIONIC 3D PRINTED UPPER-LIMB EXOSKELETON FOR STROKE REHABILITATION

Abstract

Those who have had a stroke need long-term physical rehabilitation treatments. The conventional manual hands-on method is time-consuming and cannot offer low-cost, long-term rehabilitation services. Furthermore, the hands-on method is subjective and is dependent on the competence level of physiotherapists. To address these problems, more research and effort are being directed into the development of robotic-assisted rehabilitation technologies. For decades, upper-limb exoskeleton devices have been researched and developed for upper-limb rehabilitation. Some products have been tested on post-stroke patients. However, there are many limits and problems in this field. It currently needs a bionic mechanical design for the upper-limb exoskeleton, focusing mainly on human-machine joint misalignment. Furthermore, upper-limb exoskeleton volitional control is still far from acceptable. In this study, previous attempts to develop an upper-limb exoskeleton were discussed. Important challenges related to mechanical exoskeleton design and control strategy development were undertaken.