Design of a pressure sensitive matrix for analyzing direct haptic patient-therapist interaction in motor rehabilitation after stroke

• Main Authors: Pust Michael, Ivanova Ekaterina, Schmidt Henning, Krüger Jörg
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: De Gruyter 2017-03-01
• Series: Current Directions in Biomedical Engineering
• Subjects: haptics; human-human interaction; sensor system; stroke rehabilitation
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1515/cdbme-2017-0013

Robot based therapy is one of the prevalent therapeutic approaches in motor stroke rehabilitation. It is often used in hospitals in combination with conventional therapy. In order to optimize human-robot interaction, we aim to investigate how a therapist physically supports patients during motor training of the upper extremities. This paper presents the design of a flexible textile sensor matrix, which measures the pressure exerted between therapist and patient during direct haptic interaction as well as the hand position and orientation in space. The matrix contains 144 sensors which enables measuring pressure intensity and localization of areas where the pressure is applied. The measurement matrix was evaluated with four healthy participants.