Development of a Powered Suit for Upper Limb Rehabilitation

Abstract

In this study, a powered suit for upper limb rehabilitation was developed for hemiplegic patients caused by an illness such as stroke, which is for assisting feeding activities of hemiplegic patients during recovery rehabilitation. The developed powered suit is composed of upper arm part and forearm part and is actuated by pneumatic artificial muscles. Measurement of movable angle range of elbow joint and shoulder joint of the powered suit was performed, and it was verified that the developed powered suit is capable of assisting feeding activities. In addition, evaluation experiments were carried out to verify an effectiveness of the developed powered suit, in which the muscular load was evaluated by integrated electromyogram. From the experimental result, the effect of assist of the powered suit in the feeding activity was confirmed.