title: Vision-Based Pose Estimation for Robot-Mediated Hand Telerehabilitation.
abstract: Vision-based Pose Estimation (VPE) represents a non-invasive solution to allow a smooth and natural interaction between a human user and a robotic system, without requiring complex calibration procedures. Moreover, VPE interfaces are gaining momentum as they are highly intuitive, such that they can be used from untrained personnel (e.g., a generic caregiver) even in delicate tasks as rehabilitation exercises. In this paper, we present a novel master-slave setup for hand telerehabilitation with an intuitive and simple interface for remote control of a wearable hand exoskeleton, named HX. While performing rehabilitative exercises, the master unit evaluates the 3D position of a human operator's hand joints in real-time using only a RGB-D camera, and commands remotely the slave exoskeleton. Within the slave unit, the exoskeleton replicates hand movements and an external grip sensor records interaction forces, that are fed back to the operator-therapist, allowing a direct real-time assessment of the rehabilitative task. Experimental data collected with an operator and six volunteers are provided to show the feasibility of the proposed system and its performances. The results demonstrate that, leveraging on our system, the operator was able to directly control volunteers' hands movements.
authors: Department of Control and Computer Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, Turin 10129, Italy. giuseppe.airofarulla@polito.it.
authors: Giuseppe
authors: G
authors: Airò Farulla
authors: Institute of Electronics, Computer and Telecommunication Engineering, National Research Council, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, Turin 10129, Italy. daniele.pianu@ieiit.cnr.it.
authors: Daniele
authors: D
authors: Pianu
authors: The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, viale Rinaldo Piaggio 34, Pontedera 56025, Italy. m.cempini@sssup.it.
authors: Marco
authors: M
authors: Cempini
authors: The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, viale Rinaldo Piaggio 34, Pontedera 56025, Italy. m.cortese@sssup.it.
authors: Mario
authors: M
authors: Cortese
authors: Department of Control and Computer Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, Turin 10129, Italy. ludovico.russo@polito.it.
authors: Ludovico O
authors: LO
authors: Russo
authors: Department of Control and Computer Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, Turin 10129, Italy. marco.indaco@polito.it.
authors: Marco
authors: M
authors: Indaco
authors: Institute of Electronics, Computer and Telecommunication Engineering, National Research Council, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, Turin 10129, Italy. roberto.nerino@ieiit.cnr.it.
authors: Roberto
authors: R
authors: Nerino
authors: Institute of Electronics, Computer and Telecommunication Engineering, National Research Council, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, Turin 10129, Italy. antonio.chimienti@ieiit.cnr.it.
authors: Antonio
authors: A
authors: Chimienti
authors: The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, viale Rinaldo Piaggio 34, Pontedera 56025, Italy. oddoc@sssup.it.
authors: Calogero M
authors: CM
authors: Oddo
authors: The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, viale Rinaldo Piaggio 34, Pontedera 56025, Italy. n.vitiello@sssup.it.
authors: Nicola
authors: N
authors: Vitiello
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D006225:Hand / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D012371:Robotics / Q000379:methods*; D000069350:Telerehabilitation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D014838:Volunteers
keywords: hand exoskeleton; hand telerehabilitation; motion tracking; upper limb rehabilitation