RESIDUAL KINETIC VECTORS FOR PROSTHETIC CONTROL

Imagined phantom movements have real physiologic expressions within the residual limb, which we termed residual kinetic activity. In order to exploit the residual functions of transradial amputees we developed a system to register dynamic pressure patterns produced by the residual limb during voluntary commands for motions. This pattern was then converted to a multidimensional vector. Specific requested finger motions were thus detected from the forearm as residual kinetic vectors (RKVs). To decode RKVs, we developed a trainable filter derived from the pseudoinverse of the pressure response matrix. The utility of RKVs was tested on several subjects who expressed both afferent and efferent phantom limb activity. Results showed that amputees using the RKV approach could control at least 3 robotic fingers in near-real time.