Powered Upper-Limb Devices

The Development of a Powered Transhumeral Prosthesis

Recent advances in robotics technology, particularly over the past two to five years, are now enabling the development of multigrasp prosthetic hands that have the capability of offering biomechanically useful levels of force and speed. Specifically, advances in power supplies (e.g., lithium-ion batteries), actuation (e.g., rare-earth magnet brushless motors), microelectronics (e.g., low power microcontrollers and surface mount power electronics), and fabrication methods (e.g., additive manufacturing approaches) have all ushered in this new generation of multigrasp devices.

With the ability to provide multiple grasps and gestures such hands offer the promise of enhancing the dexterity and functional adaptability of prosthetic hand technology. This said, effective use of a multigrasp hand prosthesis requires a control interface that enables the user to access the multifunctional capability of the hand in a natural and efficient manner. Specifically, the user interface should enable access to multiple grasp postures in an intuitive manner with a negligible latency, and offer continuous, proportional control of motion.

The Vanderbilt Hand leverages the aforementioned technological advances with novel control methodologies in an effort to attain this goal and thereby provide effective control of a prosthetic device which facilitates the activities of daily living and which mimics the cosmetic and tactile properties of the human hand with high anthropomorphic fidelity.

Media

Publications

[1] T. E. Wiste, S. A. Dalley, T. J. Withrow, and M. Goldfarb, "Design of a Multifunctional Anthropomorphic Prosthetic Hand with Extrinsic Actuation," in IEEE International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics, Kyoto, Japan, 2009, pp. 675-681.

[2] S. A. Dalley, T. E. Wiste, T. J. Withrow, and M. Goldfarb, "Design of a Multifunctional Anthropomorphic Prosthetic Hand With Extrinsic Actuation," IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, vol. 14, pp. 699-706, 2009.

[3] S. A. Dalley, T. E. Wiste, H. A. Varol, and M. Goldfarb, "A Multigrasp Hand Prosthesis for Transradial Amputees," in IEEE International Conference of the Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2010, pp. 5062-5065.

[4] S. Dalley, H. Varol, and M. Goldfarb, "Multigrasp Myoelectric Control for a Transradial Prosthesis," in IEEE International Conference on Rehabilitiation Robotics, Zurich, Switzerland, 2011, pp. 1-6.

[5] T. E. Wiste, S. A. Dalley, H. A. Varol, and M. Goldfarb, "Design of a Multigrasp Transradial Prosthesis," ASME Journal of Medical Devices, vol. 5, pp. 1-7, 2011.

[6] S. A. Dalley, H. A. Varol, and M. Goldfarb, "Continuous Position and Force Control of a Multigrasp Myoelectric Transradial Prosthesis," in Myoelectric Controls/Powered Prosthetics Symposium (MEC), Fredericton, Canada, 2011, pp. 1-4.

[7] S. A. Dalley, H. A. Varol, and M. Goldfarb, "A Method for the Control of Multigrasp Myoelectric Prosthetic Hands," IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, vol. 20, pp. 58-67, 2012.