Abstract—Currently, exoskeletons have been developed for the rehabilitation of patients with paralysis or loss of function in the hands and upper limbs, a condition that mainly result from Cerebral Vascular Accident (CVA). Although significant advances have been made in rehabilitation devices, technical limitations related to mechanical and functional characteristics remain. This article studies the application of the Design for Testability (DfT) methodology to define mechanical and functional evaluation criteria in the design of exoskeletons with potential applications in hand rehabilitation. To this end, recent studies presenting methodologies for evaluating the development of exoskeletons for the rehabilitation of patients with CVA, using mechanical and/or functional criteria, were first reviewed. Based on this and the Design for eXcellence (DfX) concepts, a DfT methodology for exoskeletons was developed and verified, with the potential for implementation in hand rehabilitation for CVA patients at the 50th percentile. The prototype was designed in 3D modeling software, manufactured, and verified using the proposed methodology. The results show that the DfT methodology enabled the design and validation of exoskeletons with the potential to be implemented in hand rehabilitation procedures in CVA patients, covering everything from the design stage to manufacturing, resulting in better mechanical and functional characteristics and low cost in line with the needs of CVA patients.

Keywords—methodology, design, Design for Testability (DfT), hand exoskeleton, Cerebral Vascular Accidents (CVA), Design for eXcellence (DfX), mechanics

Cite: Erick Chuquimamani, Edwin C. Calcina, Yuri L. Silva, Daniela Ponte, and Erick Valdeiglesias Flores, "Application of the DfT Methodology for the Design and Validation of Exoskeletons Used in Hand Rehabilitation for Patients with Cerebral Vascular Accident," International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics Research, Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 270-280, 2026. doi: 10.18178/ijmerr.15.3.270-280

Copyright © 2026 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).