Tremor suppression with shape memory alloy vibration absorber

Most people suffering from Parkinson’s hand tremor or involuntary movement disorder face difficulties in their daily routine. In that respect, devices like exoskeleton, glove, gyroscope, etc. are used for controlling the tremor. These devices are bulky, heavy, costly, and inefficient in transmitting loads from devices to the human hand. Medical treatments like deep brain stimulation and drug therapy can be used to treat the patient; however, it may affect the patient’s life and may produce a negative prolonged side effect. The goal of this research study was to develop a vibration absorber system to reduce the hand tremor. This device is a rectangular spring mass damper system. It is a wearable and an inexpensive device. The spring of the device is designed and manufactured manually. The equations were modelled for a vibration absorber system and then analyzed using a MATLAB Simulink. Simultaneously, experimental results were obtained using a prototype and a test rig. It was found that the device reduces the hand tremor significantly.