BIOMIMETIC CONTROLLER FOR A MULTIFINGER PROSTHESIS

描述(改编自申请人的摘要)：先天性上颌骨 肢体缩小缺陷(即失去的手)估计有1 在美国，每3000名儿童和成千上万的儿童和成年人 因截肢而失去上肢。这项工作的目标是 为那些缺乏灵巧之手的病人恢复灵巧之手。当前上 假肢只能恢复简单的运动，要么是劈叉 钩或各种类型的假手。拟议的项目将 基于意志力传递的新型手控器的研制 肌腱驱动残肢的肌肉和肌腱运动 气动(水龙头)。该系统将利用压敏泡沫来 测量由肌肉/肌腱激活引起的压力变化 残肢。来自这些传感器阵列的信号将是 被处理以确定所需的手指移动。初步 对一名腕部截肢者的测试结果表明 可以记录和检测合适的信号。该项目的第一阶段 旨在可靠地检测产生的单个前臂肌腱的运动 通过有意移动幻影手指并提供多个手指 为缺失或无功能的患者提供虚拟打字功能 举起手来。患有ULRD的儿童使用自拍手可以恢复 比现在的假肢提供更大的灵活性和 可促进神经、肌肉和神经的解剖和功能发育 肌腱可以操作未来的先进假体。 建议的商业应用： 新的假体是最先进的，预计将是 到2000年可投入商业使用。有数以千计的个体 美国和全世界谁可以受益于灵巧的 手，以便执行自己的工作，或使用键盘。 假体可以通过传统的健康从业者进行销售。 比如理疗师、修复师和理疗师。

DESCRIPTION (Adapted from the applicant's abstract): Congenital upper limb reduction deficits (i.e. missing hands) afflict an estimated 1 of every 3000 children in the US and many thousands of children and adults lose their upper limbs by amputation. The goal of this work is to restore a dextrous hand to those patients lacking it. Current upper limb prostheses can only restore simple movements, either with a split hook or various types of artificial hands. The proposed project will develop a novel hand controller based on transduction of volitional muscle and tendon movements in the residual limb with tendon-actuated pneumatic (TAP). The system will utilize pressure-sensitive foam to measure pressure changes resulting from activation of muscle/tendon of the residual limb. Signals from an array of these sensors will be processed to determine the desired movement of digits. Preliminary results from tests on a wrist disarticulation amputee indicate that suitable signals can be recorded and detected. Phase I of this project aims to reliably detect movement of individual forearm tendons produced by intended movement of phantom fingers and to provide multi-finger virtual typing capability for patients with missing or non-functional hands. Use of the TAP hand by children with ULRD could restore a greater dexterity than that which is offered by present prostheses and may foster anatomical and functional development of nerves, muscles and tendons that could operate advanced prostheses of the future. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: The new prosthesis advances the state-of-the-art, and is expected to be commercially available by 2000. there are thousands of individuals in the U.S. and throughout the world who could benefit from a dexterous hand, in order to perform their jobs, or use a keyboard. The prosthesis can be marketed through traditional health practitioners such as physical therapists, prosthetists, and physiatrists.