Rehabilitation of finger patients requires that the patients exercise their hands and fingers for proper functioning to return. A thumb rehabilitation robot, equipped with a two-axis force sensor, can prevent injury to the thumb by monitoring the applied pulling force. In this paper, we describe a link-type thumb rehabilitation robot designed for patients" thumb rehabilitation exercise. Tests of the manufactured link-type thumb rehabilitation robot were performed on normal male patients. Our results show that the robot can be used for flexibility and muscle-strength rehabilitation exercises for a patient’s thumb.
