Upper Limb Assistive and Rehabilitation Orthotic Device

One of the most common of military injuries are musculoskeletal injuries (MSI), which inflicts thousands of individuals through combat and occupational risks. These injuries to the arms and hands require treatment, assistance, and rehabilitation for the afflicted individual. The proposed hand assist/rehab orthosis (HARO) is a low-profile, aesthetic, functional system that is able to provide actuation to the fingers for recovery after hand injuries. The phase one effort will develop and test the actuation mechanism with the goal of providing actuation to the fingers with functional grip strength. Such a device would be beneficial for populations including military individuals with musculoskeletal hand impairments, recovering stroke patients with hemiparesis, and hand orthosis users in the general population.