Abstract
Hand amputation can dramatically affect the capabilities of a person. Cortical reorganization occurs in the brain, but the motor and somatosensorial cortex can interact with the remnant muscles of the missing hand even many years after the amputation, leading to the possibility to restore the capabilities of hand amputees through myoelectric prostheses. Myoelectric hand prostheses with many degrees of freedom are commercially available and recent advances in rehabilitation robotics suggest that their natural control can be performed in real life. The first commercial products exploiting pattern recognition to recognize the movements have recently been released, however the most common control systems are still usually unnatural and must be learned through long training. Dexterous and naturally controlled robotic prostheses can become reality in the everyday life of amputees but the path still requires many steps. This mini-review aims to improve the situation by giving an overview of the advancements in the commercial and scientific domains in order to outline the current and future chances in this field and to foster the integration between market and scientific research.
Highlights
It is estimated that 41,000 persons were living with a major loss of an upper limb in 2005 (Ziegler-Graham et al, 2008)
A relatively wide choice of devices is available to restore the capabilities of hand amputees by myoelectric robotic prostheses
Such devices are continuously evolving according to technology, scientific research, market needs and user requirements
Summary
It is estimated that 41,000 persons were living with a major loss of an upper limb in 2005 (Ziegler-Graham et al, 2008). Since the market and the scientific field are so complex and changing so quickly, it can be difficult to have a complete overview of them and to remain constantly updated in both fields This mini-review aims to be a resource for young and experienced researchers in academia and prosthetic companies by providing a synthetic but complete overview of the current level of advancement in the commercial and scientific reality. A relatively wide choice of devices is available to restore the capabilities of hand amputees by myoelectric robotic prostheses Such devices are continuously evolving according to technology, scientific research, market needs and user requirements. The continuous improvements in the field and the different targets and aims of the papers published by the companies can make it difficult for researchers to remain updated with the capabilities of available prostheses. In 2013 a pattern recognition system similar to the ones described in the scientific literature was made commercially available (http://www.coaptengineering.com/)
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