Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States of America.
Division of Prosthetics & Orthotics, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2018 Feb 22;13(2):e0193106. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0193106. eCollection 2018.
Assistive technology, such as wrist-driven orthoses (WDOs), can be used by individuals with spinal cord injury to improve hand function. A lack of innovation and challenges in obtaining WDOs have limited their use. These orthoses can be heavy and uncomfortable for users and also time-consuming for orthotists to fabricate. The goal of this research was to design a WDO with user (N = 3) and orthotist (N = 6) feedback to improve the accessibility, customizability, and function of WDOs by harnessing advancements in 3D-printing. The 3D-printed WDO reduced hands-on assembly time to approximately 1.5 hours and the material costs to $15 compared to current fabrication methods. Varying improvements in users' hand function were observed during functional tests, such as the Jebsen Taylor Hand Function Test. For example, one participant's ability on the small object task improved by 29 seconds with the WDO, while another participant took 25 seconds longer to complete this task with the WDO. Two users had a significant increase in grasp strength with the WDO (13-122% increase), while the other participant was able to perform a pinching grasp for the first time. The WDO designs are available open-source to increase accessibility and encourage future innovation.
辅助技术，如腕部驱动矫形器（WDO），可被脊髓损伤患者用于改善手部功能。由于缺乏创新以及获得 WDO 的挑战，它们的应用受到限制。这些矫形器对使用者来说可能既重又不舒服，而且对矫形师来说制造起来也很耗时。本研究的目的是设计一种带有用户（N=3）和矫形师（N=6）反馈的 WDO，通过利用 3D 打印的进步来提高 WDO 的可及性、可定制性和功能。与当前的制造方法相比，3D 打印的 WDO 将手动装配时间减少到大约 1.5 小时，材料成本降低到 15 美元。在功能测试中观察到用户手部功能的不同程度的改善，例如杰普森泰勒手功能测试。例如，一名参与者使用 WDO 完成小物件任务的能力提高了 29 秒，而另一名参与者使用 WDO 完成该任务则延长了 25 秒。两名使用者的握力明显增加（增加 13-122%），而另一名使用者则首次能够进行捏握。WDO 设计是开源的，以提高可及性并鼓励未来的创新。
