iGrab Hand Orthosis: Innovative Glove for Rehabilitation and Assistance using Biomimicry

Portable, lightweight, and easy to use assistive and rehabilitation orthotic devices (ARODs) are of critical importance to people affected by upper limb musculoskeletal injuries (MSIs) due to the limited supply of traditional rehabilitation resources. Since currently available ARODs for the hand are bulky, non-portable, and cumbersome to use, treatment methods for upper limb MSIs still rely heavily on the use of physical therapists. Because of the increasing number of upper limb MSIs that require rehabilitation, the supply of trained therapists does not meet the demand. The proposal addresses this need by developing iGrab: An Innovative Glove for Rehabilitation and Assistance using Biomimicry, a device that will facilitate at home rehabilitation and assist patients with everyday tasks. iGrab will improve upon exoskeleton style hand orthoses by incorporating lightweight polymer based artificial muscles coupled with an easily scalable, small form factor exoskeleton, and a carbon loaded elastomer based intention sensing system into a glove. In the Phase I, Lynntech, in collaboration with a team at the University of Texas at Dallas will determine the optimal parameters for the artificial muscles and intention sensing system. These optimized components will form the basis of iGrab and will be integrated into the prototype device.