Control of a Robotic Hand Using a Tongue Control System-A Prosthesis Application

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Rehabilitation Technology
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Advanced prosthetic control is crucial for restoring function in amputees.
• Conventional electromyogram (EMG) systems have limitations in speed and intuitiveness.
• Novel control interfaces are needed to improve prosthetic dexterity and user experience.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility of an inductive tongue control system (ITCS) for controlling robotic prostheses.
• To introduce and assess a novel dual-modal control scheme integrating ITCS with EMG for multigrasp robotic hands.
• To compare the performance of ITCS-based control against conventional EMG control.

Main Methods:

• A comparative study involving ten healthy subjects was conducted.
• Subjects performed grasping exercises using the IH1 Azzurra robotic hand with five distinct grasps.
• Performance was measured by the time taken to activate desired functions or grasps under both ITCS and EMG control schemes.

Main Results:

• The ITCS control scheme demonstrated statistically significant performance improvements over the EMG scheme.
• On average, ITCS reduced activation time by 35.4% (1.15 seconds) compared to EMG.
• The most substantial improvement was observed in grasp 5, with a 45.3% reduction in activation time.

Conclusions:

• The ITCS control scheme enables faster activation of prosthetic functions and grasps compared to conventional EMG.
• This technology holds significant potential for improving prosthesis control, particularly for transhumeral and bilateral amputees.
• ITCS offers additional benefits for environmental and computer control, expanding its utility for amputees.