A Wearable Hand Tremor-Suppressing Glove Using PVC Gel-Based Actuators and Force Sensors

Hand tremor significantly impairs daily activities, affecting the quality of life for millions worldwide. Compared to traditional invasive treatments, noninvasive wearable devices offer a promising, more convenient, and safer alternative but often struggle to balance tremor suppression efficacy, wearability, and comfort. This study presents a novel wearable hand tremor-suppressing orthosis glove integrating semi-active and active control schemes using flexible polyvinyl chloride gel-based actuators and sensors. The glove integrates first, self-sensing semi-active absorbers to detect and suppress wrist and finger tremors, second, active fingertip tremor absorbers to counteract fingertip tremor forces, and third, two types of flexible sensors (resistive strain sensors and capacitive force sensors) to ensure accurate detection whether the hand is trembling in the air or in contact with a surface. Simulations and experiments validate the glove’s ability to suppress tremors across a wide frequency range (3–12 Hz), achieving a suppression ratio of up to 81.7% at the fingertips. Compared to state-of-the-art solutions, the glove achieves a superior suppression-per-power metric of 163.4%/W, while maintaining low weight (155 g) and flexibility, enhancing comfort and adaptability. This work advances wearable tremor suppression by integrating semi-active and active schemes, offering a noninvasive and effective solution for hand tremors.