A parellel Compliant Meso-Manipulator for Finger Rehabilitation Treatments: Kinematic and Dynamic Analysis

A parallel and flexible meso-manipulator for finger rehabilitation treatments is presented in this paper. The work deals with the study of a meso-robot’s kinematic and dynamic peculiar behavior, aimed at allowing its application to muscular activity and tendon tension, in those patients with even a partial lack of the fingers functionality, for instance due to a stroke. As a result of its structural compliance, the mesomanipulator results particularly suitable for a rehabilitative application: after having coupled the manipulator to a common cloth-glove joined to the mobile platform of the robot, the patient’s finger can be driven to the required movement. As external loads can also be imposed to the involved tendons, the realized motion parts performed by the robot and by the patient can be quantified. In this way, the surgeon can constantly monitor the therapy trend, but also the patient has an objective quantification of his/her improvement.