Development of a novel wearable MRI-compatible finger assistive robot

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel wearable MRI-compatible hand exoskeleton robot that supports a subject moving his fingers voluntarily or involuntarily in high magnetic field. The robot consists of four exoskeletal fingers excluding a thumb, which is fabricated with nonmagnetic materials through 3D printing. In order to be used in an MRI environment, pneumatic actuators are applied to drive the joints of the wearable robot. Potentiometers are also installed in the MP and PIP joints of four fingers to measure the motion angles in real time. Basic motion performances of the robot are evaluated by flexion rang of fingers, time delay and fingertip force. Finally, we confirmed the MRI compatibility of robot through some measurement experiments of a subject's brain activity.