Dimensional Synthesis and Design of a Finger Exoskeleton for Rehabilitation

This paper presents the design of a single degree-of-freedom (DOF) six-bar linkage, Stephenson-II mechanism for an index finger exoskeleton, which can be utilized in a rehabilitative device for an injured finger replicating the sagittal flexion\extension movement of the human index finger. This work is done through implementing optimization algorithms to the design process of the proposed linkage. The objective function of this optimization problem is the minimization of the error between PIP, DIP, and the fingertip paths in the sagittal plane in the flexion/extension movement of the human finger and those generated by the Stephenson-II linkage. An array of synthesized mechanisms has been generated using the PSO algorithm, followed by the 3D developed conceptual model of a selected and adjusted solution, and dynamic simulation in MATLAB.