TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A team of student from the Electrical Engineering program at Indonesia's Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) has developed TheraFeel gloves for the therapy of patients with cerebral palsy. The device is designed to provide stimulation and accurately measure the level of muscle stiffness to make the therapy more effective and measurable.
Crysanta Caressa, Kent Frumentius, and Noval Adi Prasetyo, students of the Electrical Engineering program at ITB, class of 2021, have turned the prototype into their final project assignment. They were supervised by lecturers Anggera Bayuwindra and Isa Anshori.
Cerebral palsy is a condition of motor impairment that can occur during pregnancy, childbirth, or during the formation of the central nervous system. In general, this disorder is commonly experienced by children, characterized by difficulty in controlling muscle movement and body posture.
To mitigate the impact of this disorder on the body, intensive care and therapy can be conducted. One common intervention is hand therapy aimed at improving joint flexibility or hand movement capability. Currently, this therapy method is still being carried out conventionally.
According to Kent Frumentius, in the conventional practice, therapists usually move the patient's hand while assessing the level of muscle stiffness. They believe that this method tends to be subjective, difficult to document, and physically tiring for the therapists.
"Therefore, we developed a therapy device that is expected to objectively assess muscle stiffness in cerebral palsy patients without eliminating the role of the therapist," Kent said in a written statement on ITB's website on Wednesday, July 30, 2025.
TheraFeel consists of main components, namely the motor for the patient and therapist, to move the fingers and provide resistance, a microcontroller to regulate the overall system, flex sensors to measure muscle stiffness based on the degree of bending, and hall effect sensors to read the angle of finger or hand movement via a magnetic field. It also includes a power supply that provides voltage and electric current to support the system's performance.
A pair of gloves, each worn by a patient and a therapist, allows the therapist's hand movements to be followed by the patient. TheraFeel utilizes Haptic Feedback as a feedback medium that signals to the therapist when there is a change in resistance movement in the patient's hand. "Such as when the muscles feel stiff or heavy when moved, thus supporting a more interactive and responsive therapy process," said Kent.
In cases where the patient cannot follow the movement, the difference in movement will cause tension. The therapist feels this tension as a barrier to movement, thus being able to directly determine the level of muscle stiffness in the patient. Subsequently, data regarding joint movement angles and the level of muscle stiffness in the hand will be displayed visually through a user interface, making it easier to monitor the patient's progress over time.
Unlike automatic therapy devices that tend to replace the role of the therapist, TheraFeel is designed to be semi-automatic so as not to eliminate the active role of the therapist. The device has undergone testing and received positive feedback from supervising lecturers and visitors when showcased at the ITB campus last June. According to users, the applied algorithm is considered applicable and possible to be further developed, including for therapy on the legs.
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