Arthritis is a leading cause of disability among U.S. adults; from 2010-2012, an estimated 52.5 million U.S. adults annually have been diagnosed with some form of arthritis. While symptoms vary from patient to patient, the majority are faced with tender, painful, and swollen joints, and reduced strength and overall hand function.

Patients are often forced to endure physical therapy sessions over several weeks, which costs them both time and money despite adherence to these programs being statistically very low. Currently, there exist few solutions for arthritic patients who do not possess the discipline to follow these programs. Also, options for short-term relief are currently limited, especially for patients with intense pain following prolonged rest.  Of those currently on the market now, notably the Swede-O Thermoskin Arthritic Glove, which provides mild compression and insulation, and the Bionic Glove, which provides improved grip through the implementation of rubber grips at the fingertips, none provide notable short-term or long-term solutions for arthritic patients.

Our device, the Therapeutic Arthritic Glove (TAG), aims to provide automated cycles of heating and cooling to the hand to provide both short-term symptom alleviation for arthritic patients as well as long-term solutions for improved overall hand function. We aim to use the heating and cooling cycles to reduce inflammation and swelling observed in arthritic patients.

The TAG is a device designed to aid patients afflicted with decreased overall hand function. Through the provision of heating and cooling elements to reduce swelling and inflammation, the glove provides both short term symptom alleviation and long term disease control. While primarily aimed at patients diagnosed with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, the device is universal to those afflicted with similar conditions, and can be used easily without consicious effort so patients can lead normal lives outside of physical therapy.

Heat flux is provided by small Peltier thermoelectric coolers located between the DIP and PIP joints of each finger, and one on the MCP joint of the thumb. They are controlled by an Arduino microcontroller that modulates temperature using thermistors, which measure temperature. Should the skin surface temperature reach dangerous levels, the emergency switch can be toggled to shut off the device. The device is powered by a battery that is attached and located along the wrist and a small portion of the forearm.