%0 Journal Article
%T A Bioinspired 10 DOF Wearable Powered Arm Exoskeleton for Rehabilitation
%A Soumya Kanti Manna
%A Subhasis Bhaumik
%J Journal of Robotics
%D 2013
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2013/741359
%X The developed exoskeleton device (Exorn) has ten degrees of freedom to control joints starting from shoulder griddle to wrist to provide better redundancy, portability, and flexibility to the human arm motion. A 3D conceptual model is being designed to make the system wearable by human arm. All the joints are simple revolute joints with desired motion limit. A Simulink model of the human arm is being developed with proper mass and length to determine proper torque required for actuating those joints. Forward kinematics of the whole system has been formulated for getting desired dexterous workspace. A proper and simple Graphical User Interface (GUI) and the required embedded system have been designed for providing physiotherapy lessons to the patients. In the literature review it has been found that researchers have generally ignored the motion of shoulder griddle. Here we have implemented those motions in our design. It has also been found that people have taken elbow pronation and supination motion as a part of shoulder internal and external rotation though both motions are quite different. A predefined resolved motion rate control structure with independent joint control is used so that all movements can be controlled in a predefined way. 1. Introduction It is seen that a major stroke is viewed by more than half of those at risk as being worse than death. Paralysis is caused due to complete loss of muscle function. In both cases patients have stiff muscles which restrict them from any physical movement of the affected part. Even the patients suffering from spinal cord injury or several nerve diseases may also lose their muscle strength gradually. According to Krakauer [1] the degree of improvement at 6 months is best predicted by the motor deficit at 1 month despite standard rehabilitative interventions in the ensuing 5 months. It is already proved that if they are under the process of rehabilitation for several months after stroke, their active range of motion as well as muscle strength can increase significantly. The training includes all the orthopedic and neurological lessons so that it is effective to the human muscle treatment. The rehabilitation training is generally performed by a physiotherapist, but the duration of the training is not adequate due to the fatigue of the therapist. It is observed that a physiotherapist can perform the training for 8¨C10 hours a day and can provide service to 2 to 3 patients at a very high cost. They may even omit certain exercises which are essential to the patients. The person also does not get repetitive and
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jr/2013/741359/