Multichannel haptic feedback unlocks prosthetic hand dexterity

Moaed A Abd,Joseph Ingicco,Douglas T Hutchinson,Erik D Engeberg,Emmanuelle Tognoli

doi:10.1038/s41598-022-04953-1

Moaed A Abd, Joseph Ingicco + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-04953-1

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Journal: Scientific Reports	Publication Date: Feb 11, 2022
Citations: 19	License type: open-access

Affiliation: Florida Atlantic University, University of Utah

Abstract

Loss of tactile sensations is a major roadblock preventing upper limb-absent people from multitasking or using the full dexterity of their prosthetic hands. With current myoelectric prosthetic hands, limb-absent people can only control one grasp function at a time even though modern artificial hands are mechanically capable of individual control of all five digits. In this paper, we investigated whether people could precisely control the grip forces applied to two different objects grasped simultaneously with a dexterous artificial hand. Toward that end, we developed a novel multichannel wearable soft robotic armband to convey artificial sensations of touch to the robotic hand users. Multiple channels of haptic feedback enabled subjects to successfully grasp and transport two objects simultaneously with the dexterous artificial hand without breaking or dropping them, even when their vision of both objects was obstructed. Simultaneous transport of the objects provided a significant time savings to perform the deliveries in comparison to a one-at-a-time approach. This paper demonstrated that subjects were able to integrate multiple channels of haptic feedback into their motor control strategies to perform a complex simultaneous object grasp control task with an artificial limb, which could serve as a paradigm shift in the way prosthetic hands are operated.

Highlights

Loss of tactile sensations is a major roadblock preventing upper limb-absent people from multitasking or using the full dexterity of their prosthetic hands
Breaking an object was conceptualized as a force applied by the robotic hand more than a fixed threshold, an event that was signaled to the subject by vibrotactile actuators embedded in the multichannel bimodal soft robotic armband for haptic feedback
Multiple channels of haptic feedback enabled simultaneous proportional control of grip forces applied to two objects

Summary

Introduction

Loss of tactile sensations is a major roadblock preventing upper limb-absent people from multitasking or using the full dexterity of their prosthetic hands. This bottleneck in bidirectional information transfer prevents users from fully benefiting from the mechanical dexterity that newer prosthetic hands have to offer Due to these and other reasons, recent surveys of people with an upper limb absence have indicated that they would like their prostheses to be dexterous with individual digit control and to have sensory feedback[12–15]. Improvement in these areas could help reduce prosthetic device abandonment rates that are prevalent in populations of limb-absent people around the world, from veterans in the U SA16, to the general population in N orway[17], Sweden and the U.K.13, among o thers[18]. A soft pneumatic actuator was designed to function as a prosthetic hand socket liner to provide haptic feedback[33]

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