Professor Marian Poboroniuc of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Power Engineering and Applied Informatics of “Gheorghe Asachi” University of Iasi has invented a robotic glove designed to help regain hand movement to those suffering from hand paralysis following a stroke.
Romanians can pride themselves with a 100% Romanian invention that will help paralyzed hands recover after strokes. After years of research and projects, Professor Marian Poboroniuc has managed to create a mechatronic glove based on the principles of electric stimulation and can make patients perform predefined movements.
Glove-mounted cables are driven by linear motors that respond to electrically operated commands on muscles. The invention uses the principle of mirror movement so that the recovering hand can be moved with the help of the healthy hand.
Unlike other bionic gloves, the invention works in tandem, providing the link between electrostimulation applied to the muscle and the glove itself.
The equipment costs approximately 7,000 euros
The innovation from Iași, which has already been awarded prizes such as Euroinvent, Bring It and Invest Invent, could be mass produced in no more than three years: “If everything goes the way we want it, this equipment could be used in three years in rehabilitation, recovery or sports recovery clinics. The approximate cost would be 7,000 euros, because we need a programmable neurostimulation that costs about 3,000 euros” explains Professor Marian Poboroniuc.
The Bionic Glove is a remarkable invention, the professor works on several projects that can revolutionize medicine, including an electrode headset that enables the patient to control his hand movements with “power of mind” and Exoslim, a hybrid FES- exoskeleton for the rehabilitation of upper limbs of people suffering from neurological diseases with central nervous system injuries.
Until now, the Romanian bionic gloves have been successfully tested on 12 patients that have made major advances, and in three years they could be used in recovery and rehabilitation hospitals.
Source: jurnalul.ro