User-Centred Design of Multi-DoF Prosthetic Wrist Controllers: Performance and Preference in Daily Living Tasks

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Rehabilitation Robotics
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Prosthetic wrist control remains a challenge for functional restoration in upper-limb amputees.
• Existing systems often require extensive training and may not adequately support diverse daily activities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present and evaluate a practical IMU-based control framework for 2-DoF prosthetic wrists.
• To assess the feasibility of supporting functional wrist control during activities of daily living (ADLs).

Main Methods:

• Developed an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU)-based control system for prosthetic wrists.
• Implemented three controller configurations: pronation-supination (PS), radial-ulnar deviation (RUD), and combined PS-RUD.
• Ten healthy participants simulated amputees performing ADLs in a virtual environment, with kinematic and user effort data collected.

Main Results:

• Task-specific controllers significantly reduced compensatory limb movements.
• The combined PS-RUD controller was user-preferred, irrespective of task completion time.
• Participants reported reduced physical and cognitive effort, indicating system intuitiveness and usability.

Conclusions:

• The IMU-based control framework demonstrates potential for intuitive and usable prosthetic wrist function.
• A user-centered control strategy can reduce training burden and facilitate integration into everyday use.
• This approach offers a promising direction for enhancing prosthetic limb functionality and user experience.