Soft Robotic Shoulder Assist Device: Towards Prevention of Shoulder Overuse Syndrome in Wheelchair Users

Shoulder overuse syndrome (SOS) is a fatigue-related condition caused by repetitive motion or excessive practice, common amongst wheelchair users. Diagnostic treatment methods for SOS include physiotherapy sessions, kinesiology tapes and few other measures. Many commercial devices available in the market targeting rehabilitation and recovery of shoulder pathologies are expensive and inaccessible for in-home treatment. A detailed survey of the rehabilitative devices for upper limbs is given in [1]. Although, prognostic measures to avoid SOS in wheelchair users such as taking smoother strides and altering wheel stroke mechanics have been suggested [2], [3], there is a clear lack of assistive devices that augment the shoulder joint muscles during wheelchair propulsion.