User requirements for assistance of the supporting hand in bimanual daily activities via a robotic glove for severely affected stroke patients

For independent functioning in activities of daily life (ADL), proper hand function is paramount. Many stroke patients have a reduced ability to grasp and handle objects, while they don't fully recover functional use of the arm and hand, even after extensive (robotic) training. These patients may benefit from assistive support of the arm and hand in daily life. To address the needs of stroke patients during the design of an assistive device, a user-centered approach has been applied to identify user requirements for development of a dynamic hand orthosis to support hand opening during functional bimanual activities. A survey of literature showed that preferred ADL tasks are personal hygiene, dressing-grooming, eating and preparing food. Since the more affected hand will mainly be used as a supporting hand to stabilize objects during prehensile tasks, the most important grasp to support was identified as the cylinder grasp. User requirements were extracted from interviews with primary and secondary end-users and experts in the field, highlighting that ease of use is an essential aspect for user acceptance and uptake of the device.