Design and Development of 8-DoF Forearm Rehabilitation Device

Abstract

Robotic systems for rehabilitating forearm have been an active area of research. A majority of the daily living activities require the use of the forearm significantly, and hence affecting the quality of life of the patient if not rehabilitated promptly. Rehabilitation devices for the forearm are particularly complex to design because of the requirement to accommodate multiple degrees of freedom. Many contemporary devices do not accommodate all the required movements in a single device. Further, the designs are not inclusive and cost-effective, making it difficult for mass production. This paper discusses the design of an inclusive, 8-DoF forearm rehabilitation that is capable of providing rehabilitation to the phalanges and wrist simultaneously. The paper further evaluates the performance of the system by comparing its kinematics motion with the theoretical design's kinematics.