The usefulness of assistive soft robotics in the rehabilitation of patients with hand impairment: A systematic review

Abstract

Introduction: Loss of hand function causes severe limitations in activity in daily living. The hand-soft robot is one of the methods that has recently been growing to increase the patient's independence. The purpose of the present systematic review was to provide a classification, a comparison, and a design overview of mechanisms and the efficacy of the soft hand robots to help researchers approach this field.

Methods: The literature research regarding such tools was conducted in PubMed, Google Scholar, Science Direct, and Cochrane Central Register for Controlled Trials. We included peer-reviewed studies that considered a soft robot glove as an assistive device to provide function. The two investigators screened the titles and abstracts, then independently reviewed the full-text articles. Disagreements about inclusion were resolved by consensus or a third reviewer.

Results: A total of 15 articles were identified, describing 210 participants (23 healthy subjects). The tools were in three categories according to their actuation type (pneumatic system, cable-driven, another design). The most critical outcomes in studies included functional tasks (fourteen studies), grip strength (four studies), range of motion (ROM) (five studies), and user satisfaction (five studies).

Discussion: Function and grip parameters are the most common critical parameters for tests of hand robots. Cable-driven transmission and soft pneumatic actuators are the most common choices for the actuation unit. Radder et al. study had the highest grade from other studies. That was the only RCT among studies.

Conclusion: Although few soft robotic gloves can be considered ready to reach the market, it seems these tools have the potential to be practical for people with a disability. But, we lack consistent evidence of comparing two or more soft robot gloves on the hand functions. Future research needs to assess the effect of soft robotic gloves on people with hand disorders with more populations.

Keywords: Disability; Exoskeleton; Function; Grip; Hand; Orthosis.