Electromyography(EMG) sensor controlled assistive orthotic robotic arm for forearm movement

Abstract

There are nearly 1 in 50 people are affected by paralysis, which restrains the free movements of human body parts. Such people rely on support systems that can aid motion and force enhancement to body parts affect by paralysis. The most commonly used support systems are prosthetic and orthotic devices. Prosthetics are artificial extensions used to replace the missing body parts or supplement the defective body parts. Whereas, orthotic devices are external mechanical structures that support non-functional body parts which are actuated by motors. This study presents an orthotic robotic arm that can help in retraining flexion and extension movements of forearm of person affected by stroke. Orthotic Robotic Arm is a rigid brace having two degrees of freedom. Orthotic Robotic Arm helps to restore function of forearm by enabling individuals with paralysis to self-initiate and control movement of their partially paralyzed forearm using their own muscle signals. Accuracy of device was determined through a series of testing trials on 2 subjects who tested the device for 5 times and device registered 80% accuracy on the total number of trials by the subjects. Preliminary results suggest that the orthotic robotic arm has potential to improve the mobility of hand movements of paralyzed person.