A facial wearable robot for supporting eye opening and closure movement

Abstract

This study proposes a novel facial wearable robot for supporting eyelid movements. The robot is designed for people with facial paralysis, especially on one side of the face. People with facial paralysis are not able to blink, which leads to dry eyes and could cause permanent damage to the cornea. They are also prone to developing synkinesis during recovery, and a biofeedback-enabled rehabilitation is considered to prevent it. Based on these, we developed a robot system to support eyelid movements on the paralyzed side, based on the eye closure on the healthy side. The robot has a novel mechanism for supporting the eyelid control, made from soft material, which is called Eyelid Gating Mechanism (ELGM). ELGM deforms by simple rotational or linear actuation inputs and its deformation is customized to eyelid movements. Therefore, this robot can provide non-invasive and gentle support for eyelid movements. In this paper, we present the development and performance evaluation of the developed facial wearable robot.