Design of Bio-Exoskeleton for Elbow Rehabilitation

Abstract In this study, a methodology for designing a task-based exoskeleton which can recreate the end-effector trajectory of a given limb during a rehablitation task/movement is presented. The exoskeleton provides an option to replace traditional jointbased exoskeleton joints, which often have alignment issues with the biological joint. The proper fit of the exoskeleton to the user and task are research topics to reduce pain or joint injuries as well as for the execution of the task. The proposed task-based synthesis method was successfully applied to generate the 3D motions of the elbow flexion and extensions using a one degree of freedom (DOF), spatial four-bar mechanism. The elbow joint is analyzed through motion capture system to develop the bio-exoskeleton. The resulted exoskeleton does not need to align with the corresponding limb joint to generate the desired anatomical motion.