An Actuated Finger Exoskeleton for Hand Rehabilitation Following Stroke

Chronic hand impairment is common following stroke. While mass practice of movement has shown promise for rehabilitation, initial impairment of the hand may be too severe to permit even approximations of the desired movement. To facilitate movement, especially of pinch, we are building an exoskeleton to permit independent actuation of each of the three joints of the index finger. Separate actuators are used for flexion and extension, with closed-loop control of either force or position. In the future, a companion thumb exoskeleton will be developed to permit coordinated performance of pinch. This system will be used to assess strategies for optimizing rehabilitation of pinch and reach-to-pinch following stroke. The design of the actuated index finger exoskeleton is presented here.