Browsing by Subject "Prosthetics"

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    An Adaptive Prosthetic Hand with Compliant Joints and EMG-based Control
    (2005) Carrozza, Maria Chiara; Zaccone, Franco; Micera, Silvestro; Cappiello, Giovanni; Stellin, Giovanni; Vecchi, Fabrizio; Dario, Paolo
    In this paper some recent results about the experimental trials we are performing on a functional prosthetic hand characterized by an EMG-control and by a simple and low cost fabrication technology are shown. A compliant under-actuated prosthetic hand has been designed and fabricated. The five-fingered hand (both palm and fingers) is moulded as a soft polymeric single part with compliant joints and embedded tendon driven under-actuated mechanism for providing adaptive grasp. The maximum measured cylindrical grasping force is 30 N. The one DoF prosthetic hand is controlled using two pre-amplified EMG electrodes. The proposed EMG-based control is a Finite State Machine (FSM). A particular attention has been given to the calibration phase. In order to identify the end of the grasp, the intensity of the current is monitored. Moreover, the microcontroller stops the motor when the average current overcomes the value imposed. Compared to other EMG based controllers, the approach proposed is very simple but it presents a good robustness and needs a minimum computational cost.
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    Translation and linguistic validation of the Swedish version of “Orthotics and Prosthetics Users’ Survey” (OPUS)
    (2008) Jarl, Gustav; Hermansson, Liselotte Norling
    There is a lack of valid Swedish instruments to assess the overall outcome of upper limb prosthetic treatment. The Orthotic and Prosthetic Users’ Survey (OPUS) consists of five questionnaires assessing common goals in prosthetic and orthotic practice. The OPUS measures health related quality of life, satisfaction with device and services, respectively, and functional status of upper and lower extremities, respectively. Hence, this instrument could be a useful tool for outcome assessment of Swedish practice. Following the guidelines by the World Health Organization, the questionnaires were translated to Swedish and validated linguistically. Thirty-nine persons (12 men, 27 women) representing the target groups for OPUS participated in the study. During a regular visit at the prosthetic-orthotic out-patient clinic, the participants answered the relevant questionnaires and were systematically debriefed immediately afterwards. In most cases the items were understood as intended. In a few cases words and expressions had to be changed to avoid misunderstandings or diverse interpretations of the items. The resulting Swedish version of OPUS showed acceptable linguistic validity. A study on construct validity and reliability of the Swedish OPUS is in process and preliminary results will be presented.