Cineplasty as a control input for externally powered prosthetic components

To achieve significant improvement in the function of electric-powered, upper-limb prostheses, we believe it is necessary to develop better control interfaces with inherent sensory feedback. Small cineplasties, or other surgical procedures that also externalize the force and excursion of a muscle, could potentially provide this superior control. Connecting a muscle to a prosthetic component via a controller that embodies the concept of extended physiological proprioception (EPP) would enable the physiological sensory feedback inherent in the skin, muscle, and other tissues of the cineplasty to inform the user of the state of the prosthesis. Multiple miniature forearm tunnel cineplasties, each with an EPP controller, might enable meaningful independent multifinger control of hand prostheses. At higher levels of amputation (e.g., transhumeral), small pectoral or deltoid cineplasties could augment existing control sources to improve control of multifunctional total arm prostheses. To explore the feasibility of these ideas, we quantified the control capabilities of individuals with preexisting biceps muscle tunnel cineplasties with the use of pursuit tracking experiments. A "proof-of-concept" EPP electric hand prosthesis was also successfully developed for a subject with agonist-antagonist, forearm tendon exteriorization cineplasties. The results of the tracking studies demonstrate numerically the efficacy of control by cineplastized muscles relative to other control approaches.