Smart textile with integrated functional electrical stimulation and movement sensor for hand exercise

Abstract

Stroke is the leading cause of adult movement disability, affecting 1.3 million people in the UK and 101 million people worldwide. Two thirds of stroke survivors have a weak upper limb affecting their independence and quali-ty of life. This work presents the user needs in stroke rehabilitation identified through focus group studies and 1:1 interviews. To address the usability issue of Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) products used in stroke rehabilitation, we have developed a smart textile based electrode sleeve that allows users to use the FES device independently. Different textile materials (cotton, wool, Lycra) have been used in knitting a textile to achieve user comfort and the elasticity required to hold the electrodes in place. A sleeve assembly method has been developed to allow one-hand donning/doffing. Hand extension has been achieved by using a two-electrode FES system. The wrist bending angle was measured using two inertial measurement units (IMU). The bending angle and the user comfort achieved by the smart fabric electrodes and hydrogel electrodes are compared confirming that the fabric electrodes can be used to replace the hydrogel electrodes currently used in FES applications.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Meijing Liu: orcid.org/0000-0001-8334-7533

ORCID for Yuanyuan Yin: orcid.org/0000-0002-2109-0135

ORCID for Michael Tudor: orcid.org/0000-0003-1179-9455

ORCID for Kai Yang: orcid.org/0000-0001-7497-3911

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