Probabilistic Model-based Learning Control of a Soft Pneumatic Glove for Hand Rehabilitation.
IEEE Trans Biomed Eng 2021;
69:1016-1028. [PMID:
34516370 DOI:
10.1109/tbme.2021.3111891]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE
Stroke survivors are usually unable to perform activities of daily living (ADL) independently due to loss of hand functions. Soft pneumatic gloves provide a promising assistance approach for stroke survivors to conduct ADL tasks. However, few studies have explored effective control strategies for the 'human-soft robot' integrated system due to challenges in the nonlinearities of soft robots and uncertainties of human intentions. Therefore, this work aims to develop control approaches for the system to improve stroke survivors hand functions.
METHODS
Firstly, a soft pneumatic glove was utilized to aid with stroke-impaired hands. Secondly, a probabilistic model-based learning control approach was proposed to overcome the challenges. Then a task-oriented intention-driven training modality was designed. Finally, the control performance was evaluated on three able-bodied subjects and three stroke survivors who attended 20-session rehabilitation training.
RESULTS
The proposed approach could enable the soft pneumatic glove to provide adaptive assistance for all participants to accomplish different tasks. The tracking error and muscle co-contraction index showed decreasing trends while the hand gesture index showed an increasing tendency over training sessions. All stroke survivors showed improved hand functions and better muscle coordination after training.
CONCLUSION
This work developed a learning-based soft robotic glove training system and demonstrated its potential in post-stroke hand rehabilitation.
SIGNIFICANCE
This work promotes the application of soft robotic training systems in stroke rehabilitation.
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