This Glove Massages Edema Patients’ Hands

According to a recent Medgadget article, a team of medical engineers from Cornell University has developed a knitted glove that could help treat hand edema, a condition that results in swelling of the hands due to fluid accumulation. Currently, manual edema massage performed by a trained healthcare worker is the standard treatment, but it’s expensive, time-consuming, and inconvenient for patients. 

The glove, called KnitDema, is designed for at-home use and features built-in robotic actuators that gently squeeze the hand, shifting fluid from the fingertips back to the proximal part of the hand. A video with more information can be seen here.