A Portable Soft Robotic Glove with Fully Functional Thumb Assistance for Complex Dexterous Fine Motor Skills

Stroke causes millions of cases of hand disability annually, impairing fine motor skills needed for daily tasks like pinching, circumduction, phone swiping, cap twisting, and thumb opposition. Existing hand exoskeletons and soft gloves often lack adequate thumb support, are bulky, and rely on unsensorized open-loop control. We developed a portable soft robotic glove that provides comprehensive, task-oriented assistance for the thumb and fingers. A novel soft continuous-segmented dual-chamber origami thumb actuator enables active carpometacarpal abduction/adduction, flexion/extension, metacarpophalangeal flexion/extension, and interphalangeal extension, covering the full functional range and generating 18 N tip force-about twice what's required to overcome typical post-stroke spasticity. The glove integrates a sensorized portable driving and an "assist-as-needed"controller to minimize support and maximize user engagement. Three chronic stroke participants with varied impairment levels performed pinching, lateral pinching, circumduction, phone swiping, cap twisting, and thumb opposition while wearing the glove; all completed the tasks. Across participants, the glove increased lateral pinch force by 62.9% and expanded thumb range of motion ninefold. These results indicate the system's potential as a practical solution for dexterous, task-oriented rehabilitation to restore functional hand movements and improve daily living.