A Novel 6-DOF Multi-Technique Abdominal Massage Robot System: A New Solution for Relieving Constipation and an Exploration of Standardization

摘要

With a global prevalence ranging from 12% to 19%, constipation exerts a severe negative impact on the quality of life of patients. Alleviating constipation can be effectively achieved through abdominal massage. Nevertheless, this method confronts multiple hurdles. For instance, there is a scarcity of professional therapists, the effectiveness of massage varies significantly, and there is an absence of standardized massage techniques. This research presents the design plan of a six-degree-of-freedom multi-technique abdominal massage robot. This robot aims to ease the workload of nursing staff. Structured with a series–parallel configuration, the robot is capable of carrying out four distinct massage techniques: pressing, vibrating, pushing, and kneading. Combining anatomical principles and the meridian theories of traditional Chinese medicine, it constructs a vital model for massage actions, which allows for accurate targeting of massage areas. The hardware system is designed modularly, which facilitates efficient information collection and motor control. In terms of the control strategy, admittance control is utilized to establish a closed-loop system. This ensures that the desired force curve can be precisely tracked during the planning of the abdominal massage trajectory, thus attaining flexible control. Experimental results indicate that within the complex abdominal environment consisting of diverse soft tissues, the six-degree-of-freedom multi-technique abdominal massage robot can generate stable massage interaction forces. It is anticipated that this robot system will standardize massage techniques, unify the patterns of abdominal massage, and offer novel perspectives for the intelligent and multi-technical application of clinical abdominal massage in the future.