IoT-Enabled Instrumented Glove for Real-Time Monitoring of Finger Pinch Strength

Quantifying finger strength during Activities of daily living (ADLs) and the improvements observed in individuals undergoing physical therapy due to stroke or arthritis can provide valuable insights into hand function. The developed real-time IoT-based glove for finger strength monitoring is an instrumented device that incorporates Internet of Things technology. This includes utilizing an ESP8266 Wi-Fi module to connect to the selected IoT analytics platform, Blynk, and an Arduino microcontroller as the main control unit. The glove features a 16x2 LCD display to present the user's pinch strength values for the thumb and index finger. Force-sensitive resistor (FSR) sensors were employed to assess this parameter. The measured strength values were initially displayed on the LCD and then transmitted to a Blynk server for real-time graphical representation. The effectiveness of the designed glove was evaluated through participant testing, where individuals wore the glove and performed pinching tasks. Comparisons were made between the pinch strength readings from the instrumented glove and a traditional pinch meter. The sensing results demonstrated a promising degree of accuracy, with a minimum and highest average mean percentage error of 8.23% and 14.08%, respectively. The developed IoT-based pinch strength monitoring glove have the potential to enable physiotherapists to quantitatively evaluate progress in patient pinch strength during object manipulation tasks requiring pinching. Furthermore, the success of rehabilitation programs can also be assessed using this system.