A Novel Wearable Pneumatic Flexible Supernumerary Robotic Limb for Grasping Compensation

A large number of stroke survivors are suffering from the sequelae of hemiplegia. Although their condition can be improved to a certain extent after rehabilitation treatment, more than 80% patients cannot fully recover the function of hands and arms. In this case, a novel solution to compensate grasping abilities is proposed for chronic stroke patients. We have designed a new type of pneumatic supernumerary robotic limb, which is wearable and can complete the reliable clamping of most objects in daily life. The robot is made of flexible materials and has the characteristics of flexibility, compliance and high adaptability. It can interact with human and environment safely. Three flex sensors are integrated to capture the tiny movements of patients' fingers in real time and complete the recognition of their grasping intention, ensuring that the control of pneumatic flexible supernumerary robotic limb is completed without affecting the use of healthy limbs of patients. At the same time, an air bag is placed on the shoulder to increase the accuracy of grasping intention. We have conducted clinical experiments of wearable robots on several stroke survivors and received good feedback from patients and medical doctors. All experiments show that the proposed robot can not only help the patients with grasping tasks, but also stimulate the patient's rehabilitation training.