Development of Active Upper Limb Orthosis -Evaluation using Visual Analog Scale by Healthy Subjects-

Abstract

We have been developing upper limb orthosis that incorporates two motors to support the movement of arm of the Erb's paralysis patients. The orthosis supports flexion of shoulder and elbow and medial rotation of upper arm independently. Trial experiments were performed by five healthy subjects. Eleven activities of daily living (ADLs) were tested by three methods: without orthosis, with orthosis without medial rotation function, and with the function. From the results evaluated by the visual analog scale (VAS), difficulty of the movement increased with the orthosis and decreased in several ADLs when the orthosis is used with medial rotation function as compared to that without the function.