Robot gloves help rehabilitation

Patients who have difficulty moving their fingers after an accident or stroke will soon receive help from a robot glove developed by Italian engineers.

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The Gloreha Gloves can work thanks to a series of cylinders that are slightly above the glove. This design allows the device to apply a small pressure on the hand to guide it during the training.

In addition, the Gloreha Gloves wearers can manually move their hands to reproduce gestures such as handles, pointers, etc. The electronic sensors in the gloves are attached to the software that allows the user to see. Motion of a 3D virtual hand on a computer screen. Patients will follow the movements of this virtual hand in many different exercises.

Gloreha Gloves is the result of a three-year project funded by the company Idrogenet and researchers at the University of Brescia. There were 3 prototypes of the glove developed. Of these, the latest version was tested in 40 patients at three hospitals in Italy from November 2010 to April 2011. Carlo Seneci, president of Idrogenet, told the Daily Mail : 'Gloreha Gloves are used for half an hour and one to two sessions a day. We noticed an improvement in the movement of the hands and the remission of edema.

According to Seneci, many hospitals and rehabilitation centers in Italy have ordered the glove. In addition, Idrogenet said it would develop a simpler version of Gloreha Gloves that the patient could use at home.