Upper limb tremor suppression in ADL via an orthosis incorporating a controllable double viscous beam actuator

Loureiro, R. C. V., Belda-Lois, J. M., Lima, E. R., Pons, J. L., Sanchez-Lacuesta, J. J. and Harwin, W. S. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3928-3381 (2005) Upper limb tremor suppression in ADL via an orthosis incorporating a controllable double viscous beam actuator. In: 2005 Ieee 9th International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics. International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics ICORR. Ieee, New York, pp. 119-122. ISBN 1945-7898 0-7803-9003-2

Abstract/Summary

Neuromuscular disorders affect millions of people world-wide. Upper limb tremor is a common symptom, and due to its complex aetiology it is difficult to compensate for except, in particular cases by surgical intervention or drug therapy. Wearable devices that mechanically compensate for limb tremor could benefit a considerable number of patients, but the technology to assist suffers in this way is under-developed. In this paper we propose an innovative orthosis that can dynamically suppress pathological tremor, by applying viscous damping to the affected limb in a controlled manner. The orthosis design utilises a new actuator design based on Magneto-Rheological Fluids that efficiently deliver damping action in response to the instantaneous tremor frequency and amplitude.