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Device Technologies and Biomedical Robotics

Device Technologies and Biomedical Robotics - Poster Session E

Poster W7 - The Bear Paw – Customizable assistive grip devices for low-cervical spinal cord injury patients

Saturday, October 26, 2024

10:00 AM - 11:00 AM EST

Location: Exhibit Hall E, F & G

Primary Investigator(s)

Nicole H. Urban, PhD (she/her/hers)

Professor
Johnson & Wales University
Portsmouth, Rhode Island, United States

Co-Author(s)

NN

Nathaniel Neville

Undergraduate Student
Johnson & Wales University
Providence, Rhode Island, United States
CD

Christopher Dimovski

Undergraduate Student
Johnson & Wales University
Providence, Rhode Island, United States

Presenting Author(s)

BD

Brandon Daniels

Undergraduate Student
Johnson & Wales University
Providence, Rhode Island, United States

Introduction: Over 250,000 people suffer a spinal cord injury each year with the highest risk demographic for this injury being adult males between the ages of 20 and 29. Low-cervical spinal injuries, from C5 to C8, vastly affect grip strength, elbow function, and range of motion of the digits. In addition to traumatic injuries this area of the spine, the C5-C6 region, is one of the most common areas for cervical disc herniation. The Bear Paw is a novel assistive device developed to address grip needs encountered during the Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), such during dressing, shopping, preparing food, and office tasks. The Bear Paw has two variants for various gripping needs and can be customized for various hand sizes and specific uses and fills an unmet need by supporting a range of grip activities for low-cervical injury patients and others with limited finger motion.

Materials and

Methods: Two Bear Paw variants support wide and narrow grip activities without involving the digits. The narrow grip variant (Figures 1-3) addresses the challenge of pulling up pants when using a wheelchair, if the individual does not have complete range of motion. This three-part device has a glove element (Figure 2) to slide over the hand, digits F6-F9, a removable watch band-style strap (Figure 3), and various hook elements (Figure 1). The glove and strap are 3D printed using flexible TPU and customized to user’s hand dimension and style preferences. The glove has protrusions permitting strap attachment via complementary openings and can be pre-assembled by a clinician. A variety of hook elements, printed with PLA, fit into a depression in the strap with shapes hooking onto a belt loop or scooping up a shopping bag, and hook placement can be at the thumb or lateral side of the glove. The wide grip variant (Figures 4-5) offers a 3–5-inch grip width and was developed to support activities such as managing laundry, office tasks, and gripping grooming items. The wide grip variant has a similar glove-style base and touch sensing actuation elements, shown in red (Figure 5), so the user can selectively open and close the device by touching sensing element with the opposite hand or any other area of skin without the need for pressure or a sustained touch. Prototypes were fabricated using a Bambu Labs X-1 Carbon 3D printer, and electronics and capacitive textiles are from Adafruit Industries.

Results, Conclusions, and Discussions: Two assistive grip prototype devices were developed to support independence and safety during ADLs for individuals experiencing challenges with finger range of motion, grip strength, or hand control. The Bear Paw narrow grip or hook variant supports activities like pulling up pants, arranging clothes, which can pose an increased challenge for wheelchair users, and lifting bags with narrow handles as would be encountered while shopping. The wide grip variant was designed to support full palm grip activities such as handling laundry, moving papers and folders in an office setting, and gripping grooming or cooking items. Both prototypes are inexpensive, can be customized the dimensions of a user’s hands, and operate with the need for finger movement.

Over half a million people suffer low-cervical injuries each year that dramatically affect their mobility and impact their independence when performing ADLs. Additionally, millions are affected each year by injuries or diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis and diabetic neuropathy, that affect the range of motion of their fingers, grip strength, or ability to sustain a grip. Most commercially available devices that address gripping simply amplify an individual’s grip strength after the user to begins the gripping motion or require the user individually to move their fingers. The Bear Paw completely reimagines the act of gripping and lifting.

Future work on the narrow grip variant includes integrating touch-sensing actuation elements, so the patient can selectively extend and retract the hook elements to allow for all day wear, without having the hooks interfere with other ADLs. The actuation elements on the wide grip variant will be enhanced to incorporate a touch sensing potentiometer so the user can select the grip width and the grip pressure to more easily grasp items made of different materials with various widths. Both devices will be adapted to integrate with commercially available wheelchair gloves, so that a user does not need to remove their preferred wheelchair gloves to use the Bear Paw devices.

Acknowledgements (Optional): Research reported in this abstract was supported in part by the Institutional Development Award (IDeA) Network for Biomedical Research Excellence from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under grant number P20GM103430.