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The purpose of this paper is to develop a novel wearable rehabilitation robotic hand driven by Pneumatic Muscle‐Torsion Spring (PM‐TS) for finger therapy. PM has complex nonlinear dynamics, which makes PM modelling difficult. To realize high‐accurate tracking for the robotic hand, an Echo State Network (ESN)‐based PID adaptive controller is proposed, even though the plant model is unknown.

To drive a single joint of rehabilitation robotic hand, the paper proposes a new PM‐TS actuator comprising a Pneumatic Muscle (PM) and a Torsion Spring (TS). Based on the novel actuator, a wearable robotic hand is designed. By employing the model‐free approximation capability of ESN, the RLSESN based PID adaptive controller is presented for improving the trajectory tracking performance of the rehabilitation robotic hand. An ESN together with Recursive Least Square (RLS) is called a RLSESN, where the ESN output weight matrix is updated by the online RLS learning algorithm.

Practical experiments demonstrate the validity of the PM‐TS actuator and indicate that the performance of the RLSESN based PID adaptive controller is better than that of the conventional PID controller. In addition, they also verify the effectiveness of the proposed rehabilitation robotic hand.

A new PM‐TS actuator configuration that uses a PM and a torsion spring for bi‐directional movement of joint is presented. By utilizing the new PM‐TS actuator, a novel wearable rehabilitation robotic hand for finger therapy is designed. Based on the unknown plant model, the RLSESN_PID controller is proposed to attain satisfactory performance.

The purpose of this paper is to review the challenges present in the development of hand exoskeletons powered by pneumatic artificial muscles. This paper also presents the development of a novel strain sensor and its application in a five‐fingered hand exoskeleton.

The issues of current hand exoskeletons powered by pneumatic artificial muscles are examined by studying the artificial muscles and the human hand anatomy. Traditional sensors are no longer suitable for applications in hand exoskeletons. A novel strain sensor was developed by depositing a conducting polymer called polypyrrole onto a natural rubber substrate through vapor phase polymerization and is used in the authors' five‐fingered hand exoskeleton.

The error of measurements from the polypyrrole strain sensor in controlling the actuation of pneumatic artificial muscles is within 1.5 mm. The small physical size and weight of the novel polypyrrole strain sensor also helped to keep the exoskeleton's profile (less than 20 mm) and total weight low (<1 kg).

The novel strain sensor allows the realization of hand exoskeletons that are lightweight, portable and low profile. This improves the comfort and practicality of hand exoskeletons to allow their usage outside the research environment.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation technique. Based on the unique functions of TMS, it has been widely used in clinical, scientific research and other fields. Nowadays, the robot-assisted automatic TMS has become the trend. In order to simplify the operation procedures of robotic TMS and reduce the costs, the purpose of this paper is to apply the marker-based augmented-reality technology to robotic TMS system.

By using the marker of ARToolKitPlus library and monocular camera, the patient’s head is positioned in real time. Furthermore, the force control is applied to keep contact between the coil and subject’s head.

The authors fuse with visual positioning which is based on augmented-reality and force-control technologies to track the movements of the patient’s head, bring the coil closer to the stimulation site and increase treatment effects. Experimental results indicate that the trajectory tracking control of robotic TMS system designed in this paper is practical and flexible.

This paper provides a trajectory tracking control method for the robotic TMS. The marker-based augmented-reality technology is implemented which simplifies the operation procedures of robotic TMS as well as reduce the costs. During the treatment process, the patients would wear an AR glasses, which can help patients relax through virtual scenes and reduce the uncomfortableness produce by treatment.

Supernumerary robotic limbs (SRLs) are a new type of wearable robot, which improve the user’s operating and perceive the user’s environment by extra robotic limbs. There are some literature reviews about the SRLs’ key technology and development trend, but the design of SRLs has not been fully discussed and summarized. This paper aims to focus on the design of SRLs and provides a comprehensive review of the ontological structure design of SRLs.

In this paper, the related literature of SRLs is summarized and analyzed by VOSviewer. The structural features of different types of SRLs are extracted, and then discuss the design approach and characteristics of SRLs which are different from typical wearable robots.

The design concept of SRLs is different from the conventional wearable robots. SRLs have various reconfiguration and installed positions, and it will influence the safety and cooperativeness performance of SRLs.

This paper focuses on discussing the structural design of SRLs by literature review, and this review will help researchers understand the structural features of SRLs and key points of the ontological design of SRLs, which can be used as a reference for designing SRLs.

This paper aims to explore and review the potential of robotic rehabilitation as a treatment approach for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and its impact on the health and quality of life of AD patients.

The present discourse endeavors to provide a comprehensive overview of extant scholarly inquiries that have examined the salience of inhibitory mechanisms vis-à-vis robotic interventions and their impact on patients with AD. Specifically, this review aims to explicate the contemporary state of affairs in this realm by furnishing a detailed explication of ongoing research endeavors. With the objective of elucidating the significance of inhibitory processes in robotic therapies for individuals with AD, this analysis offers a critical appraisal of extant literature that probes the intersection of cognitive mechanisms and assistive technologies. Through a meticulous analysis of diverse scholarly contributions, this review advances a nuanced understanding of the intricate interplay between inhibitory processes and robotic interventions in the context of AD.

According to the review papers, it appears that implementing robot-assisted rehabilitation can serve as a pragmatic and effective solution for enhancing the well-being and overall quality of life of patients and families engaged with AD. Besides, this new feature in the robotic area is anticipated to have a critical role in the success of this innovative approach.

Due to the nascent nature of this cutting-edge technology and the constrained configuration of the mechanized entity in question, further protracted analysis is imperative to ascertain the advantages and drawbacks of robotic rehabilitation vis-à-vis individuals afflicted with Alzheimer’s ailment.

The potential for robots to serve as indispensable assets in the provision of care for individuals afflicted with AD is significant; however, their efficacy and appropriateness for utilization by caregivers of AD patients must be subjected to further rigorous scrutiny.

This paper reviews the current robotic method and compares the current state of the art for the AD patient.

The purpose of this review paper is to address the substantial challenges of the outdated exoskeletons used for rehabilitation and further study the current advancements in this field. The shortcomings and technological developments in sensing the input signals to enable the desired motions, actuation, control and training methods are explained for further improvements in exoskeleton research.

Search platforms such as Web of Science, IEEE, Scopus and PubMed were used to collect the literature. The total number of recent articles referred to in this review paper with relevant keywords is filtered to 143.

Exoskeletons are getting smarter often with the integration of various modern tools to enhance the effectiveness of rehabilitation. The recent applications of bio signal sensing for rehabilitation to perform user-desired actions promote the development of independent exoskeleton systems. The modern concepts of artificial intelligence and machine learning enable the implementation of brain–computer interfacing (BCI) and hybrid BCIs in exoskeletons. Likewise, novel actuation techniques are necessary to overcome the significant challenges seen in conventional exoskeletons, such as the high-power requirements, poor back drivability, bulkiness and low energy efficiency. Implementation of suitable controller algorithms facilitates the instantaneous correction of actuation signals for all joints to obtain the desired motion. Furthermore, applying the traditional rehabilitation training methods is monotonous and exhausting for the user and the trainer. The incorporation of games, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies in exoskeletons has made rehabilitation training far more effective in recent times. The combination of electroencephalogram and electromyography-based hybrid BCI is desirable for signal sensing and controlling the exoskeletons based on user intentions. The challenges faced with actuation can be resolved by developing advanced power sources with minimal size and weight, easy portability, lower cost and good energy storage capacity. Implementation of novel smart materials enables a colossal scope for actuation in future exoskeleton developments. Improved versions of sliding mode control reported in the literature are suitable for robust control of nonlinear exoskeleton models. Optimizing the controller parameters with the help of evolutionary algorithms is also an effective method for exoskeleton control. The experiments using VR/AR and games for rehabilitation training yielded promising results as the performance of patients improved substantially.

Robotic exoskeleton-based rehabilitation will help to reduce the fatigue of physiotherapists. Repeated and intention-based exercise will improve the recovery of the affected part at a faster pace. Improved rehabilitation training methods like VR/AR-based technologies help in motivating the subject.

The paper describes the recent methods for signal sensing, actuation, control and rehabilitation training approaches used in developing exoskeletons. All these areas are key elements in an exoskeleton where the review papers are published very limitedly. Therefore, this paper will stand as a guide for the researchers working in this domain.

Currently, rehabilitation medical care is expensive, requires a large number of rehabilitation therapist and which can only limit in the fixed location. In addition, there is a lack of research on the structure optimization and theoretical analysis of soft actuators for hand rehabilitation. In view of the problems above, this paper aims to propose a cheap, portable, wearable soft multiple joints rehabilitation glove.

First, this paper determined the hyperelastic constitutive model by material tensile test. Second, the soft actuator’s internal longitudinal section shape was optimized through the comparison of three diverse chamber structures. Meanwhile, the motion model of the soft actuator is established by the finite element model analysis method. Then, this paper established the constitutive model of the soft actuator according to the torque equilibrium equation and analyzed the relationship between the soft actuator’s bending angle and the input air pressure. This paper has verified that the theoretical model is correct through the soft actuator bending test. Finally, rehabilitation gloves were manufactured according to the model and the rehabilitation performance and grasping ability of gloves were verified through experiments.

The optimization results show that the internal semicircular cavity has better performance. Then, the actuator performance is better after adding the external arc structure and optimizing the physical dimension. The experimental results show that the trajectory of the actuator conforms to the mathematical model and rehabilitation gloves can meet the needs of rehabilitation treatment.

Rehabilitation gloves made of actuators can help patients with hand dysfunction in daily rehabilitation training. Then, it can also assist patients with some fine and complicated hand movements.

This paper proposes a new type of soft rehabilitation glove, which is composed of new soft actuators and adapting pieces. The new actuator is small enough to be fitted to the knuckle of the glove to move each joint of the finger.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new design for a finger and wrist rehabilitation robot. Furthermore, a fuzzy sliding mode controller has been designed to control the system.

Following an introduction regarding the hand rehabilitation, this paper discusses the conceptual and detailed design of a novel wrist and finger rehabilitation robot. The robot provides the possibility of rehabilitating each phalanx individually which is very important in the finger rehabilitation process. Moreover, due to the model uncertainties, disturbances and chattering in the system, a fuzzy sliding mode controller design method is proposed for the robot.

With the novel design for moving the DOFs of the system, the rehabilitation for the wrist and all phalanges of fingers is done with only two actuators which are combined in one device. These features make the system a good choice for home rehabilitation. To control the robot, a fuzzy sliding mode controller has been designed for the system. The fuzzy controller does not affect the coefficient of the sliding mode controller and uses the overall error of the system to make a control signal. Thus, the dependence of the controller to the model decreases and the system is more robust. The stability of the system is proved by the Lyapunov theorem.

The paper provides a novel design of a hand rehabilitation robot and a controller which is used to compensate the effects of the uncertain parameters and chattering phenomenon.

Many people suffer from injuries related to their hand. This research aims to focus on the improvement of the previously developed smart glove by using position and force control algorithms. The new smart glove may be used for both physiotherapy and assistance.

The proposed robot uses shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators coupled to an under-actuated tendon-driven mechanism. The proposed device, which is presented as a wearable glove attached to an actuation module, is capable of exerting extremely high forces to grasp objects in various hand configurations. The device’s performance is studied in physiotherapy and object manipulation tasks. In the physiotherapy mode, hand motion frequency is controlled, whereas the grasping force is controlled in the object manipulation mode. To simulate the proposed system behavior, the kinematic and dynamic equations of the proposed system have been derived.

The achieved results verify that the system is suitable to be used as part of a rehabilitation device in which it can flex and extend fingers with accurate trajectories and grasp objects efficiently. Specifically, it will be shown that using six SMA wires with the diameter of 0.25 mm, the proposed robot can provide 45 N gripping force for the patients.

The proposed robot uses SMA actuators and an under-actuated tendon-driven mechanism. The resulted robotic system, which is presented as a wearable glove attached to an actuation module, is capable of exerting extremely high force levels to grasp objects in various hand configurations. It is shown that the motion and exerted force of the robot may be controlled effectively in practice.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the use of wearable technologies that focuses on applications that tackle sensory and communication deficits, physical disabilities and alarm and activity monitoring. It is intended to promote the introduction of more wearable approaches to providing assistive technologies because of their benefits in utilisation and aesthetic appeal.

The approach involves a comparison of different types of portable device in order to identify different groups that may be beneficial to different application areas. Recent advances are then considered for each area.

The work demonstrates that the use of wearable AT device is increasing due to improvements in materials, battery power and connected intelligence such as smartphones. They will allow new devices to be introduced that are smaller, lighter and more usable.

Utilisation of assistive technologies is likely to improve as wearable devices become the norm across a wide range of applications

Approaches to improving the Quality of Life of people with disabilities through an extended use of assistive technologies will be enhanced by the increased range of devices available and by their performance.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first review of wearable devices that has focused on the needs of people who have rehabilitation and/or social care needs. Its value lies in encouraging manufacturers and designers to use wearable approaches to solving some of the problems facing vulnerable people.