Rebecca L German

US Patent:

20120136284, May 31, 2012

Filed:

Jul 7, 2011

Appl. No.:

13/177844

Inventors:

Edward M. Land - Owings Mills MD, US
H. Lee Mantelmacher - Owings Mills MD, US
Rebecca German - Baltimore MD, US
Marlis Gonzalez-Fernandez - Catonsville MD, US
Gad Alon - Rockville MD, US
John Staehlin - Westminster MD, US
Ken Silver - Pikesville MD, US
Wayne E. Moore - Columbia MD, US

Assignee:

THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY - Baltimore MD

International Classification:

A61H 1/00

US Classification:

601 5

Abstract:

A hand movement device comprises a glove for positioning about a hand of a user, a first anchor element adapted to be positioned about a base surface of glove, a second anchor element adapted to be positioned at a tip of a finger portion of the glove, an active spring member positioned between the first and second anchor elements, said active spring member being fixedly secured to said first anchor element and moveable through said second anchor element to thereby allow said spring member to bend about a joint of the finger when said finger is flexed, an activating element positioned adjacent the active spring member to heat or cool said active spring member thereby causing the spring member to bend or straighten, and an intermediary support device for housing said spring element and for connecting the first anchor element to said second anchor element.