Whole Body Awareness for Controlling a Robotic Transfemoral Prosthesis.

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Rehabilitation Robotics
• Human-Machine Interfaces

Background:

• Restoring locomotion for transfemoral amputees is crucial for independence and rehabilitation.
• Active mechatronic lower-limb prostheses aim to reduce user effort but require accurate intention detection.
• Current cognitive interfaces using electromyography face signal deterioration issues over time.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a novel controller for active transfemoral prostheses.
• To utilize whole body awareness via a wireless, non-invasive sensory apparatus as a cognitive interface.
• To achieve subject-independent intention detection for diverse functional tasks.

Main Methods:

• Development of a finite-state machine controller.
• Integration of a wireless distributed non-invasive sensory apparatus for whole body awareness.
• Monitoring signals from the wearable interface for intention detection.

Main Results:

• The controller demonstrated high reliability and subject-independent intention detection.
• Achieved 100% accuracy in treadmill walking, even for weak subjects and low speeds.
• Attained a minimum success rate of 94.8% for sit-to-stand maneuvers.
• Participants reported high confidence and intuitiveness with the system.

Conclusions:

• The whole body awareness controller offers a reliable and intuitive solution for active transfemoral prostheses.
• This approach overcomes limitations of traditional neural interfaces.
• It enhances mobility and independence for transfemoral amputees.