開眼・閉眼動作を支援する顔面装着型ロボットの提案（第２報）

抄録

We have been developing a facial wearable robot to support eyelid movements for patients with facial paralysis, especially on one side of the face. This robot has a mechanism for supporting eyelid movements, made from soft material, which is called Eyelid Gating Mechanism (ELGM). ELGM deforms by simple rotational actuation inputs and its deformation is customized to the eyelid movements. Therefore, this robot can provide non-invasive and gentle support for eyelid movements. In this paper, we describe the design rule of the ELGM, and based on this, we conducted a deformation analysis with non-liner finite element method. From the results, we verified the trend of the deformation, and we made three prototypes based on this trend. Using these prototypes we a conducted the clinical study with patients with facial paralysis patients to evaluate if the ELGM can close the eyelid or not.