A Design Based Materials Study for a Wearable Muscle Stretching Device Aimed at Patients With Spasticity

The efficacy of robotic systems in rehabilitation is well established. Many of these systems are fixed equipment that requires the user to visit a facility for treatment. Furthermore, current treatment options for pediatric patients with spastic dyplagia include manual stretching of the muscle groups and serial casting in conjunction with Botox injections. The goal of this work is to develop a dynamic orthotic to stretch the muscles of the lower calf. A subsystem of this project is the development of wearable sensor system to detect spasticity and control the system actuators. A system of thin film sensors embedded into a novel composite structure is proposed. In order to develop a dynamic orthotic to stretch the muscles of the lower calf, a subsystem of this project is the development of wearable sensor system embedded into a novel composite structure [1, 2, 3].