Clinical Evaluation of a New Mechatronic Glove for Hand Rehabilitation

This paper presents the validation and the improvements of a glove-type mechatronic recovery system through clinical testing for patients with neurological disorders. This system, called MANUTEX, evaluates the flexion and extension of the hand, stimulates the increase of muscle strength, as well as the coordination of fine movements of the patient's hand. Fine motor skills such as precision, dexterity and coordination of the hand are improved too. The use of an exoskeleton type system for passive mobilization and functional electrical stimulation (FES), with surface electrodes, improves the remaining voluntary movement the patients may perform. A comprehensive testing of the MANUTEX functionality was carried out in a technical laboratory of the technical university, as a preamble for a first set of clinical trials at the Neurology Department of the Clinical Rehabilitation Hospital of Iasi. The purpose of this paper is to present the overall validation process and clinical results of using a new mechatronic glove with in the rehabilitation process for post stroke neurological patients.