Multichannel electrotactile feedback for simultaneous and proportional myoelectric control

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Neuroscience
• Rehabilitation Engineering

Background:

• Closing the loop in myoelectric prostheses requires artificial somatosensory feedback for users.
• Previous research focused on simple grippers, but modern prosthetics are complex multifunction systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess multichannel electrotactile feedback integrated with simultaneous, proportional control of individual fingers in a dexterous prosthetic hand.
• To investigate the effectiveness of electrotactile feedback for advanced prosthetic hand control.

Main Methods:

• Spatial and frequency coding were used for electrotactile feedback of finger positions.
• 28 able-bodied subjects performed closed-loop myoelectric control tasks with real and virtual hands.
• Conditions included different feedback modalities, control tasks, systems, control methods, and ranges of motion.

Main Results:

• Subjects perceived and utilized multichannel electrotactile feedback to improve control performance compared to open-loop grasping.
• Performance improvements were contingent on the reliability of the feedforward control.
• Less consistent control led to more complex performance trends across various conditions.

Conclusions:

• Multichannel electrotactile feedback is promising for closing the control loop in sophisticated prosthetic systems.
• This feedback enhances user control over advanced prosthetic hands, paving the way for improved prosthetic functionality.