Project Title

Development of a system for post stroke rehabilitation of hand functions using a low cost robotic exoskeleton

Web Abstract

Recent studies estimate that 1.6 million cases of stroke occur in India annually and one third of whom developed movement disability. Loss of hand function due to stroke is a common phenomenon that severely constraints mobility in vocational environment and even in simple activities of daily living. Traditional rehabilitation depends on passive-movement oriented therapy, and several one-on-one interactive sessions with appropriate physiotherapist. Robotic systems have potential of performing better than conventional methods as it offers advantages of automating the therapy, generating motions with high repeatability and measuring the improvements over time. The brain and other associated neuromuscular signals from the subjects related to hand motions will be incorporated along with robotic exoskeleton in the control scheme of the rehabilitation therapy. In this project we aim to develop a low cost robotic exoskeleton for fingers and wrist movements system with integrated software interface to restore various hand functions in stroke patients.