A Dual-Action Fabric-Based Soft Robotic Glove for Ergonomic Hand Rehabilitation

Abstract

Hand impairment following neurological disorders substantially limits independence in activities of daily living, motivating the development of effective assistive and rehabilitation strategies. Soft robotic gloves have attracted growing interest in this context, yet persistent challenges in customization, ergonomic fit, and flexion-extension actuation constrain their clinical utility. Here, we present a dual-action fabric-based soft robotic glove incorporating customized actuators aligned with individual finger joints. The glove comprises five independently controlled dual-action actuators supporting finger flexion and extension, together with a dedicated thumb abduction actuator. Leveraging computer numerical control heat sealing technology, we fabricated symmetrical-chamber actuators that adopt a concave outer surface upon inflation, thereby maximizing finger contact area and improving comfort. Systematic characterization confirmed that the actuators generate sufficient joint moment and fingertip force for ADL-relevant tasks, and that the complete glove system produces adequate grasping force for common household objects. A preliminary study with ten healthy subjects demonstrated that active glove assistance significantly reduces forearm muscle activity during object manipulation. A pilot feasibility study with three individuals with cervical spinal cord injury across seven functional tasks indicated that glove assistance promotes more natural grasp patterns and reduces reliance on tenodesis grasp, although at the cost of increased task completion time attributable to the current actuation interface. This customizable, ergonomic design represents a practical step toward personalized hand rehabilitation and assistive robotics.

Figures (6)

• Figure 1: Glove system overview.(A) Comparison of finger contact between single-chamber and symmetrical-chamber actuators upon inflation. (B) and (C) Design of the dual-action actuator and soft glove. (D) Complete system comprising the control box, dual-action soft glove, and smartphone web interface. (E) and (F) Glove in fully extended and fully flexed configurations, respectively.
• Figure 2: Actuator design and fabrication.(A) and (B) Customized flexion and extension actuators fabricated via CNC heat sealing. (C) and (D) dual-action actuator assembly by heat sealing flexion chambers, extension chambers, and a bottom constraint layer. (E) and (F) Actuator deflection toward the target flexion and extension postures upon selective chamber inflation. (G) Thumb abduction actuator fabrication process.
• Figure 3: Thumb actuator characterization.(A) Extension and flexion actuator operating configurations. (B) Moment characterization experimental setup. (C) and (D) Effects of fold angle and inflation pressure on flexion bending moment. (E) and (F) Fingertip blocking force measurement setup and results. (G) Extension actuator moment characterization setup. (H) and (I) Effects of fold angle and inflation pressure on extension bending moment.
• Figure 4: Glove grasping performance characterization.(A) Directional grasp force measurement setup. (B) and (C) Directional grasp force at different inflation pressures. (D) and (E) Normal grasp force measurement configuration. (F) Normal grasp force as a function of inflation pressure. (G) Frictional grasp force measurement setup. (H) and (I) Effects of inflation pressure and cylinder diameter on frictional grasp force.
• Figure 5: Protocol and results of the preliminary healthy subjects study.(A)--(C) Participants performing six transport tasks with the sEMG sleeve under three glove conditions (no glove, passive, and active). (D)--(F) Averaged sEMG amplitude across 31 active channels for Object 2, illustrating differences between conditions. (G)--(H) Mean muscle activity and task completion time across six objects under the three conditions.