Patent ID: 11872152
Assignee: TOYOTA MOTOR ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING NORTH AMERICA, INC.
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 0:
1. An appendage pressurization device comprising:
an appendage strap;
a plurality of artificial muscles disposed in the appendage strap and communicatively coupled to a controller, wherein each of the plurality of artificial muscles comprise:
a housing comprising an electrode region and an expandable fluid region;
a dielectric fluid housed within the housing;
an electrode pair positioned in the electrode region of the housing, the electrode pair comprising a first electrode fixed to a first surface of the housing and a second electrode fixed to a second surface of the housing, wherein the electrode pair is actuatable between a non-actuated state and an actuated state such that actuation from the non-actuated state to the actuated state directs the dielectric fluid into the expandable fluid region, expanding the expandable fluid region; and

a pressure sensor communicatively coupled to the controller, wherein the pressure sensor is configured to output a current pressure value to the controller and actuation of the electrode pair is based on the current pressure value;
wherein each of the plurality of artificial muscles is independently actuatable between the non-actuated state and the actuated state.