Abstract:
In conventional myoelectric control, muscles are assigned to control functions differing from
those controlled in the intact limb. In 1984 a bilateral amputee was fitted with four myoelectric
inputs around the shoulder. These were to be used in pairs to independently control operation of
the gripper and elbow flexion-extension. Since none of the muscles were doing their original
assignment, a program was set up to train the user on the system. After many sessions, the
amputee and trainer agreed that simultaneous control was never going to work. The control
system was reconfigured, and the user mastered controlling one device at a time sequentially
with the two best control sites. Twenty years later people are again trying to control several
devices simultaneously, but with a difference. Now, with targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR)
each muscle is being used to control the same function as in the intact limb.
