A Vacuum-Powered Artificial Muscle Designed for Infant Rehabilitation
Name
micromachines-12-00971.pdf
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8.13 MB
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Author(s)
Mendoza, Mijaíl Jaén
Gollob, Samuel Dutra
Lavado, Diego
Koo, Bon Ho Brandon
Cruz, Segundo
Roche, Ellen T.
Vela, Emir A.
Date Issued
August 2021
Journal
Micromachines
Publisher
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Citation
Micromachines 12 (8): 971 (2021)
Version
Final published version
Abstract
The majority of soft pneumatic actuators for rehabilitation exercises have been designed for adult users. Specifically, there is a paucity of soft rehabilitative devices designed for infants with upper and lower limb motor disabilities. We present a low-profile vacuum-powered artificial muscle (LP-VPAM) with dimensions suitable for infants. The actuator produced a maximum force of 26 N at vacuum pressures of −40 kPa. When implemented in an experimental model of an infant leg in an antagonistic-agonist configuration to measure resultant knee flexion, the actuator generated knee flexion angles of 43° and 61° in the prone and side-lying position, respectively.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.3390/mi12080971
