Adaptive, Tendon-Driven, Affordable Prostheses for Partial Hand Amputations: On Body-Powered and Motor Driven...

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Rehabilitation Engineering
• Prosthetics and Orthotics

Background:

• Growing interest in adaptive, tendon-driven, and affordable prosthetic devices.
• Existing prostheses are often expensive, heavy, bulky, or unsuitable for partial hand amputations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop compact, lightweight, adaptive, tendon-driven, glove-based, affordable prostheses for partial hand amputations.
• To propose both body-powered and motor-driven versions of the prosthetic device.

Main Methods:

• Development of two novel prosthetic devices: a body-powered and a motor-driven version.
• Experimental validation of device efficiency.
• Performance evaluation through grasping tests with everyday objects and force exertion capability tests.

Main Results:

• The proposed devices are compact and lightweight.
• Experimental validation confirmed the efficiency of the developed prostheses.
• Performance tests demonstrated effective grasping and force exertion capabilities.

Conclusions:

• The developed adaptive, tendon-driven, glove-based prostheses offer an affordable and effective solution for partial hand amputations.
• The compact and lightweight design enhances user applicability.
• The devices show promise for improving the quality of life for individuals with partial hand loss.