Design and implementation of grip assisting glove for patients suffering from Cerebral Tremors

摘要

With the scope of electronics increasing day by day, the need for utilizing these advanced technologies to make human lives simpler is becoming more and more necessary. This advancement in technology has lead to emergence of many new areas of research and one of the new areas of research is biomedical engineering. Biomedical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology. Many of its applications include the development of biocompatible prostheses which makes lives of people suffering from many different conditions easier. Cerebral Tremors or Intentional Tremors is a form of tremor where the patient suffers from a slow but broad tremor at the end of every purposeful movement, such as trying to press a button or touching a finger to the tip of one's nose. The symptoms for cerebral tremors tend to be progressive - they get worse with time. In severe cases this movement disorder can be disabling, and it seriously undermines the patient's ability to go about their daily activities, such as drinking a glass of water, tying things up, or writing. According to a global study conducted by the World Health Organization, 8 out of 10 disorders in the 3 highest disability classes are neurologic problems. [1] There is no cure for intentional tremors. This paper designs a grip assisting glove which can be used by people suffering from cerebral tremors to do their day to day activities easily. The glove may not help the patients directly by reducing the symptoms but will help them in performing their routine activities easily. The approach that has been used in the design is completely new as the glove itself would recognize when the user is trying to grab something or hold on to something and will increase the grip strength on its own. The design is based on mind - machine interface and has been made with careful considerations on reliability and cost effectiveness.