A wearable system with harmonic oscillations to assess finger biomechanics

Abstract

This paper presents a wearable device for finger assessment that can identify finger joint impedance parameters through harmonic oscillation perturbations. This device is designed to help assess motor impairments related to hypertonic soft-tissue changes, that can arise from a number of conditions such as stroke. By measuring the ratio of the applied torque and resulting velocities, the impedance values for any bending direction of a metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint can be estimated. The ability of this device to effectively estimate finger parameters was tested in experiments with six participants. The experimental result was validated through comparison to prior works on finger impedance estimation. The user experience of the presented system was also analysed, indicating that the device design is comfortable and acceptable for participants.