A Vacuum-Powered Artificial Muscle Designed for Infant Rehabilitation

oleh: Mijaíl Jaén Mendoza, Samuel Dutra Gollob, Diego Lavado, Bon Ho Brandon Koo, Segundo Cruz, Ellen T. Roche, Emir A. Vela

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2021-08-01

Deskripsi

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.