Human forearm rehabilitation and monitoring systems

The human upper limb has a special anatomical complexity allowing for extraordinary mobility. Literature reports over 8000 degrees of freedom in the hand alone [12-15] making an engineering marvel. It can be assimilated with a biorobot with open and closed chains that give exceptional functional mobility. Due to this complex structure, there are no specific solutions for human upper limb recovery systems in the existing literature. Based on the short anatomical details included in the paper [11-20], a simplified version of the human upper limb in the sagittal plane is created, which is necessary for designing its recovery and functional systems. This bi-mobile planar mechanism consists of three main segments corresponding to the humerus, forearm and palm. It is completed with a closed chain to simulate the palm, being attached to the sagittal model. A specific algorithm is used to obtain the model's positional-kinematic characteristics for standard anatomic details. The forearm also possesses a unique movement called pronation-supination, which allows it to rotate. This motion can be replicated using a spatial mechanism. By integrating these two mechanisms, a single system for use in medical rehabilitation, specifically designed to aid in the forearm functional recovery can be created.