Attention-Controlled Hand and Wrist Rehabilitation Assistance with Affordable EEG Sensors: Design, Implementation, and Preliminary Evaluation
摘要
Effective rehabilitation for hand and wrist motor impairments relies on active patient involvement in therapeutic exercises. This chapter introduces an integrated attention-controlled rehabilitation system for the hand and wrist, using a low-cost electroencephalography (EEG) sensor to engage patients’ focus in training sessions. The system incorporates a flexible wrist exoskeleton designed to support wrist flexion/extension and radial/ulnar deviation, alongside a hand exoskeleton featuring a hybrid soft-rigid multi-segment structure for finger flexion and extension. By establishing a brain-controlled switch activated by a threshold attention level measured via EEG, both exoskeletons enable user-driven, active rehabilitation. The design and development of the brain-controlled switch allow the system to operate when patients maintain a predefined level of attentiveness, encouraging their active participation in each exercise. Visual guidance is also integrated to help users concentrate, leading to a 95% success rate in system actuation across various experiments.