Browsing by Author "Kajitani, Isamu"

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    APPLICATION INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENT OF CAPACITY FOR MYOELECTRIC CONTROL
    (2008) Higuchi, Tetsuya; Kajitani, Isamu
    There is a growing need for objective and quantitative tools to measure the outcome of assistive technologies (AT), such as powered prostheses and communication aides for people with disabilities [1,2]. The most typical types of assessment are task completion tests or performance tests, where the user performs specific tasks relating to practical daily activities and the time required for task completion is used as the assessment. The main purposes for such outcome measurements are the assessment of patient improvements, the selection of appropriate AT devices for patients and the evaluation of newly developed AT devices. The appropriate choice of an assessment method requires careful consideration, because assessment results can be influenced by many factors. For instance, applications to AT device selection, where a therapist would investigate the outcome differences for different AT devices; assessment results may be influenced primarily by task proficiency, which thus makes the appropriate selection of an AT device difficult. This paper introduces a basic form of assessment that is both task- and applicationindependent, which focuses on the operation capacity of an input device to an AT. In most AT devices, single or multiple switches are widely accepted as the de facto standard input devices, so the proposed method evaluates the operation capabilities of single switches. At the same time, there are also a number of research projects that are seeking to develop augmentative and alternative input methods for AT devices. However, because of the wide variety of impairments, certain restrictions still remain on increasing the number of candidate input methods. Accordingly, we are working on general purpose myoelectric interfaces that are compatible with various commercial AT devices. Preliminary evaluations of the myoelectric interface are also presented in this report.
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    Development of myoelectric controllers for hand prostheses
    (2005) Kajitani, Isamu; Higuchi, Tetsuya
    This paper describes a research project at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) to develop a myoelectric controller. The myoelectric controller interprets control intentions from the operator by recognizing myoelectric signals. This kind of controller has typically been applied to control electric-powered prostheses. The most notable advantage of using the myoelectric controller is its capacity to utilize the residual muscular functions of physically-impaired persons. For example, in the case of a hand prosthesis, the myoelectric controller enables the amputee to utilize the residual functions of remnant muscles at their stump. Within the project, we initially designed a pattern classification LSI (Large Scale Integration) in 1998 [1], and as one central application of the LSI, we have subsequently been developing compact controllers for multi-functional prosthetic-hands. Employing this pattern classification LSI, the controller can adapt itself to the unique characteristics of a myoelectric signal distribution for a given individual user [1]. Moreover, in order to realize hand-prostheses that could become widely accepted, we started developing a basic functional hand prosthesis in 2002. This prosthesis has undergone some clinical evaluations, and the technology has already been transferred to a private company for commercialization. This paper outlines the development of the multi-function and basic function controller, as well as a basic functional mechanical hand.