What is Hand of Hope?
Hand of Hope is a therapeutic device that may help patients regain hand mobility through motor relearning. It facilitates muscle re-education by both amplifying and rewarding a patient with desired motion in concert with his or her own muscle signal. The system continuously monitors and senses, but does not stimulate, the affected muscles. The patient can self-initiates movement through their often very weak voluntary EMG signals that indicate the intention to move. The system then filters and processes data to a motor on the brace to enable the desired motion. This processing occurs so quickly that it is transparent to the end user but more importantly, the EMG-driven robotics requires the patient to be actively engaged throughout the therapy session.
Through repetitive training using our system, a paralysed person, such as one who has suffered a stroke can enable them to perform daily activities such as opening, holding and picking up.