空気圧ソフトアクチュエータを用いた拇指関節拘縮予防装置の基礎的検討

抄録

Contracture may occur in joints when the body is paralyzed due to accidents or diseases. It takes a lot of time to treat the contracture, and it also involves pain. Therefore, it is known that it is important to prevent contractures. We have developed a ROM (range of motion) training device using pneumatic soft actuators to prevent contractures. The proposed pneumatic soft actuator with soft material has many advantages such as low mass, flexibility, safety and user-friendliness. In this paper, we describe the design concept of the device that can perform ROM training for joints of the thumb and the structure and characteristics of a newly designed pneumatic soft actuator.