Abstract
Many research initiatives have been employed in upper limb prosthetics (ULP) in the last few decades. The body of knowledge is growing and inspired by new and interesting technology that has been brought to the market to facilitate functioning of people with upper limb defects. However, a lot of research initiatives do not reach the target population. Several reasons can be identified as to why research does not move beyond the lab, such as lack of research quality, disappointing results of new initiatives, lack of funding to further develop promising initiatives, and poor implementation or dissemination of results. In this paper, we will appraise the current status of the research in ULP. Furthermore, we will try to provide food for thought to scale up research in ULP, focusing on (1) translation of research findings, (2) the quality of innovations in the light of evidence-based medicine and evidence-based practice, (3) patient involvement, and (4) spreading of research findings by focusing on implementation and dissemination of results and collaboration in a national and international perspective. With this paper, we aim to open the discussion on scaling up research in the community of professionals working in the field of ULP.
Highlights
Major challenges exist in upper limb prosthetic (ULP) research today, such as developing new technology, obtaining funding for research proposals, improving quality of research activities, and spreading the results in order to benefit the target population
In recent decades many innovations have become available to the prosthesis user, such as pattern recognition control, targeted muscle reinnervation, osseointegration, and multi-grip hands, it is generally acknowledged that many research findings do not at all or only in a limited way move beyond the lab and reach the target population
The result of scaling-up research of ULP should be a widespread usage of effective innovations by persons with an upper limb defect
Summary
Major challenges exist in upper limb prosthetic (ULP) research today, such as developing new technology, obtaining funding for research proposals, improving quality of research activities, and spreading the results in order to benefit the target population. The high demands on industry to minimize costs and to maximize profits put pressure on innovative initiatives, which may explain why the industrial scale up of innovative designs is limited. It can be questioned how we can scale up our research to move beyond the lab and to serve the target population better with our research results. The findings and opinions presented in this paper are not unique to ULP, but may be applicable to other fields of medical device development and usage
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