This paper proposes an air pocket glove for finger rehabilitation and diagnosis of hemiplegic patients after stroke. This device consists of pneumatic actuators that expand when air is injected from a pump motor, silicone flexors that act as artificial finger tendons, film-type bending sensors, and a pressure sensor. As air enters the glove, the actuators are expanded, thus stretching out paralyzed fingers. We designed two different rehabilitation modes: continuous passive motion (CPM) mode and master-slave mode, where the motions of the unaffected fingers are duplicated in the affected fingers. We conducted an experiment to test the validity of the device for each mode. In CPM mode, the patient’s spasticity level was estimated from finger angle and air pressure. Our results showed that spasticity level decreased 13% from the initial level after rehabilitation. With the master-slave mode, EMG signals were additionally measured and compared to those found during conventional therapy, which revealed a positive effect stemming from voluntary involvement in the exercise. As a result, EMG energy was shown to increase up to 18% during master-slave mode.
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