Embedded System for Interactive Pneumatic Hand Rehabilitation: Real-Time Gaming Interface With Cognitive Stimulation for Motor Recovery

Restoring fine motor skills in individuals with upper extremity sensory-motor post-stroke impairments necessitates repetitive, task-specific exercises to promote functional recovery. Given the substantial time commitment required for therapy, rehabilitation tools must be not only effective but also engaging by adopting a game-based approach to mitigate the monotony of prolonged repetitive exercises. This paper presents a user-friendly finger-thumb mechanism designed to support the index and middle fingers as well as the thumb, specifically for patients with hand injuries. The device establishes a wireless connection to a gaming platform enabling patients to engage with computer games in real-time through purposeful thumb and finger movements. This connectivity is established through two Raspberry Pi boards utilizing a server-client network. Additionally, the device incorporates assistive or resistive forces during gameplay to adjust the level of assistance or challenge based on the individual’s motor control proficiency. With a minimal data transfer delay of 10 ms, and a 50 ms delay for game event updates, patients can seamlessly participate in the gaming experience and modify events in real-time through the newly developed wearable device. In the experiments, assistive mode achieved a 100% success rate, while resistive mode dropped to 37-45%. Movement errors varied across modes, with assistive mode showing the lowest errors, indicating more accurate and consistent performance.