Robotic Glove may prove to be physiotheraphy wonder

The SARL (Surgical and Assistive Robotics Lab) of IIITB in collaboration with NIMHANS has worked extensively in the project to create an upper limb skeleton device called Anthropomimetic upper limb. This device can be worn like a glove and has electronic ducts near the fingers to ensure mobility and help in the functioning of the upper limb.

The project has been carried out under the guidance of Prof. Madhav Rao, Prof. T K Srikanth and Mr. Vinay Chandrashekar an iMTech student of IIITB in collaboration with Dr. Vikas V of NIMHANS.

In general, Indian hospitals currently import a very costly and bulky physiotherapy device, which the patients use only within the premises of the hospital. This means that the patient has to visit the hospital regularly and also the treatment is expensive. Doctors wanted a small portable device for the convenience of the patients. 

The project – a robotic glove for patients, started in the year 2017 and will take another one and half years to complete. The project is funded by the Ministry of Social Justice for the hardware design and the software design is funded by the IBM shared university grant. The glove was first created for the right hand and now it is being done for the left arm as well. The device is a wearable glove to facilitate the autonomous movement of the fingers and wrists and also the individual joints of the upper limbs. The glove is designed for the Indian patients suffering from motor neuron disease. The glove helps the finger movements and even with the glove on the patients could hold a glass. 

This portable and light weight glove is estimated to cost around Rs.8000 making it an ideal product for the Indian market. Being portable in nature makes it is convenient for the patients to carry it around with them and give them the flexibility of not needing to visit the hospital every time to carry out their physiotherapy exercises. Physiotherapy at the convenience of your home.