Objective With the increasing aging population, stroke and its associated hand hemiplegia have become major health concerns among the elderly. Rehabilitation training during stroke recovery is critical; however, traditional physical therapy methods have limitations in effectiveness, efficiency, and patient experience. This study aims to develop a novel flexible rehabilitation glove to provide a more effective and comfortable rehabilitation training solution for patients with post-stroke hemiplegia. Methods First, the driving performance of shape memory alloy (SMA) wires was investigated, and an electrothermal actuation test platform was built. The electrothermal characteristics and actuation behavior of SMA wires under different conditions were analyzed to verify their feasibility as driving elements in flexible rehabilitation gloves. Second, based on hand skeletal kinematics and rehabilitation requirements, a wearable flexible rehabilitation glove conforming to finger motion was designed, and its reliability was evaluated. Using the muscle-like contraction properties of SMA wires, an SMA-based actuator was developed and integrated into the glove. A comprehensive SMA actuation model, including phase change, constitutive behavior, and electrothermal coupling, was established. Leveraging the self-sensing capability of SMA wires, a constitutive feedforward control model and a PID control model based on displacement feedback were developed and analyzed through simulation to evaluate strain tracking under different waveform signals. Finally, a prototype system, including hardware and control software, was developed, and experiments on active/passive rehabilitation training and assisted grasping were carried out. Results and Discussions Under periodic square-wave power input and a given load, the SMA wire achieved a lifting capacity approximately 200 times its own weight. The temperature increased from room temperature to the phase transition temperature (approximately 80 ℃) in approximately 4 s, initiating deformation and stress generation with similar trends. After approximately 4 s, the SMA wire reached a maximum contraction force of approximately 12 N and displacement of approximately 20 mm. On this basis, a lifecycle test was carried out, and different samples were subjected to periodic cycle experiments. After 10 000 cycles, the maximum contraction remained approximately 20 mm, demonstrating good durability. At the same time, the SMA wire was subjected to constant load with varying power and constant power with varying load conditions. Under constant load with increasing power, the maximum displacement of the SMA wire increased from 2 mm to 20 mm, while the maximum contraction force increased from 1 N to 15 N. Beyond a certain deformation, the response tended to stabilize. When the power exceeds a certain threshold, the maximum deformation of the SMA wire also tended to stabilize. Under constant power with varying load, the SMA wire reached its maximum deformation after a period determined by its material properties. Notably, it was found that an appropriate increase in the initial load could improve the response speed of the SMA wire. Based on the constructed control model, response simulations were performed using sinusoidal and square-wave control signals. The tracking error was small overall, with larger deviations only at the initial and signal transition points, after which the system quickly converged to the expected values, demonstrating good control performance. Furthermore, based on temperature-driven actuation, a PID control tracking experiment using displacement (angle) feedback was conducted. Under closed-loop control, the system accurately tracked the target bending angle and stabilized upon reaching the preset value. Stretching and bending experiments were subsequently conducted on both prosthetic hands and patients. Under bending control, the prosthetic hand achieved bending angles of 30° for the thumb, 65° for the index finger, and 75° for the middle finger. Under stretching control, the fingers gradually extended after 4 s and eventually returned to the initial horizontal position. Based on these results, stretching and bending experiments were further conducted on three groups of patients wearing the device. Under bending control, the average bending angles of the thumb, index finger, and middle finger across the three groups of patients reached 45°, 80°, and 85°, respectively. Subsequently, stretching experiments were conducted, in which all three patient groups returned to the initial state after approximately 4 s. Meanwhile, the tension generated by the rehabilitation glove was measured and stabilized within 2 s, reaching a maximum tension of approximately 5 N, which met the requirements for daily rehabilitation exercises. The final angles measured using a mirror-based method were compared with those obtained from the data glove, with a maximum error not exceeding 5°. Finally, grasping experiments were conducted, in which patients were asked to grasp common daily objects while wearing the rehabilitation gloves. The results demonstrated effective grasping performance across different objects. The measured fingertip force during grasping was approximately 5.5 N, while a force of 4.8 N was achieved when grasping a cup. Electromyographic signals of the arm were compared with and without the glove, showing more stable signals when the glove was worn. Conclusions The results demonstrate that the proposed flexible rehabilitation gloves provide effective rehabilitation motion and assisted grasping performance. Compared with traditional designs, they offer improved adaptability and reduced weight, meeting the rehabilitation and assistance needs of different patients.
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