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Tuned mass dampers (TMDs) are proposed as a solution to reduce the involuntary tremor at the upper limb of a patient with postural tremor. The upper limb is modeled as a three-degrees-of-freedom rotating system in the vertical plane, with a flexion-extension motion at the joints. The measured extensor carpi radialis signal of a patient is used to excite the dynamic model. We propose a numerical methodology to optimize the parameters of the TMDs in the frequency domain combined with the response in the time domain. The objective function for the optimization of the dynamic problem is the maximum angular displacement of the wrist joint. The optimal stiffness and damping of the TMDs are obtained by satisfying the minimization of the selected objective function. The considered passive absorber is a cantilever beam–like TMD, whose length, beam cross-sectional diameter, and mass position reflect its stiffness for a chosen additional mass. A parametric study of the TMD is conducted to evaluate the effect of the TMD position along the hand segment, the number of TMDs, and the total mass of TMDs. The sensitivity of the TMD to a decrease of its modal damping ratio is studied to meet the range of stainless steel. TMDs are manufactured using stainless steel beams of the same length (9.1 cm) and cross-sectional diameter (0.79 mm), for which the mass (14.13 g) position is adjusted to match the optimal frequency. Three TMDs holding a mass of 14.13 g each cause 89% reduction in the wrist joint angular displacement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tremor is a semirhythmic oscillatory movement of a body part caused by alternating simultaneous contractions of an antagonistic muscle group. Medical and surgical treatments used to reduce the symptoms of involuntary tremor can cause negative side effects. This study examined the ability of passive vibration absorbers in reducing the amplitude of postural tremor (PT). Inertial measurement unit (IMU) was used to record PT signals at the forearm and hand of a patient. IMU signal was used to excite an upper limb modeled to represent the flexion–extension vibrational motion at the joints. Equations of motion were solved numerically to obtain a response that fits the measured tremor signal. Passive tuned mass damper (TMD) was modeled as a cantilever beam and a screw placed along its length, at a position reflecting its operational frequency. Natural frequency of the TMD was derived for different mass positions and validated numerically and experimentally. Modal damping ratio of the TMD, for each mass position, was also estimated. Mass position and damping coefficient of the TMD were optimized depending on the minimization in the power spectral density (PSD) of angular displacement amplitude at the wrist joint. Optimized three-TMD system of 28.64 g total effective mass with the estimated modal damping ratio reduced 83.1% of the PSD of the angular displacement amplitude. This study showed the performance ability of a lightweight passive absorber in controlling the involuntary tremor of a system excited by the measured tremor signal of a patient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current work promotes the use of non-invasive devices for reducing involuntary tremor of human upper limb. It concentrates on building up an upper limb model used to reflect the measured tremor signal and is suitable for the design of a passive vibration controller. A dynamic model of the upper limb is excited by the measured electromyography signal scaled to reach the wrist joint angular displacement measured by an inertial measurement unit for a patient with postural tremor. A passive tuned-mass-damper (TMD) placed on the hand is designed as a stainless-steel beam with a length of 91 mm and a cross-sectional diameter of 0.79 mm, holding a mass of 14.13 g. The damping ratio and mass position of the TMD are optimized numerically. The fundamental frequency of the TMD is derived and validated experimentally through measurements for different mass positions, with a relative error of 0.65%. The modal damping ratio of the beam is identified experimentally as 0.14% and increases to 0.26–0.46% after adding the mass at different positions. The optimized three TMDs reduce 97.4% of the critical amplitude of the power spectral density at the wrist joint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research interest to provide a mechanical solution for involuntary tremors is increasing due to the severe side effects caused by the medications used to lessen its symptoms. This paper deals with the design of a cantilever-type tuned mass damper (TMD) used to prove the effectiveness of passive controllers in reducing the involuntary tremor's vibrational signals transmitted by the muscles to the hand segment. TMD is tested on an experimental arm, reflecting the flexion-extension motion of the wrist, excited by a mechanical shaker with the measured tremor signal of a patient with essential tremor. The designed TMD provides a new operational frequency for each position of the screw fixed to its beam. Modal damping ratios are also calculated using different methods for each position. The effectiveness of the TMD is quantified by measurements using a vibrometer and inertial measurement unit. Three TMDs, representing 15.7% total mass ratio, cause a reduction of 29% for the acceleration, 69% for the velocity, 79% for the displacement, 67% for the angular velocity, and 82% for the angular displacement signals. These encouraging results will allow the improvement of the design of the passive controller in the form of a wearable bracelet suitable for daily life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Passive absorbers are designed to be attached to upper limb systems to reduce tremor of patients suffering from Parkinson's disease. Several works were done previously to show the effectiveness of the low cost passive controllers, which can reduce the undesired vibrations without power requirements. An improved type of such controllers is suggested in this paper. The mechanical absorber is a two‐degree‐of‐freedom (DOF) system, which is formed by an elastic absorber connected in series to a viscous damper one, naming the system the Series Elastic Viscous Damper (SEVD). It was able to cause a high reduction in the amplitude of the tremor and operate over a wide frequency range. The lumped parameters of each absorber within the SEVD absorber are chosen to satisfy the tuning conditions. The device is tested numerically on the forearm of a biodynamic upper limb structure to check its capability in reducing the tremor at the limb's proximal joints. The limb was modeled as rigid segments with a three DOF flexion‐extension angular motion in the horizontal plane. This study seeks to analyze the effect of the SEVD damping coefficient, total mass, and mass distribution on the reduction of the displacement amplitude at the joints, with stiffness chosen to satisfy the tuning condition for the undesired frequency of tremor. It was found that very low damping coefficients are not suitable to provide reduction at all joints simultaneously; high absorber's total mass can slightly increase the performance and equally, distributed dual masses can be a good selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Active and semi-active control devices can be used as advanced and accurate controllers to reduce the undesired vibration of a structure. However, some of these controllers may have a complex design, especially for systems excited with multi-degree-of-freedom frequencies, which demand the use of high anti-fatigue material properties, and others that may require a large power source. So, improvements in the design of passive controllers are of high interest for researchers. These controllers have a very simple design and aim to counteract vibration with no power requirements. In this paper, six different passive controllers were designed to analyze and compare their performance. The performance is considered in terms of the percentage of reduction in the primary system’s displacement amplitude and the bandwidth of each designed passive controller. The system of interest is taken as the three-degree-of-freedom dynamic hand system reflecting the behavior of Parkinsonian patients. Four joint muscles operating at two resonance harmonic excitation frequencies are considered to produce movements. Each controller was attached to the forearm of the hand set in the horizontal plane to analyze their capability in reducing the rest tremor (3–7 Hz) at the proximal joint. The dual series elastic–viscous absorber is shown to be a very effective controller. It is formed from a series connection between an elastic absorber (mass–spring) and a viscous absorber (mass–dashpot). It causes about 80% reduction in tremor amplitude with 4 Hz wide frequency band at the shoulder, elbow and wrist joints. This range of operational frequency is close to that of healthy cases, 4.5 Hz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]