Perception and control of low cable operation forces in voluntary closing body-powered upper-limb prostheses

Operating a body-powered prosthesis can be painful and tiring due to high cable operation forces, illustrating that low cable operation forces are a desirable design property for body-powered prostheses. However, lower operation forces might negatively affect controllability and force perception, which is plausible but not known. This study...

Fatigue-free operation of most body-powered prostheses not feasible for majority of users with trans-radial deficiency

Background: Body-powered prostheses require cable operation forces between 33 and 131 N. The accepted upper limit for fatigue-free long-duration operation is 20% of a users’ maximum cable operation force. However, no information is available on users’ maximum force. Objectives: To quantify users’ maximum cable operation force and to relate...

Ipsilateral Scapular Cutaneous Anchor System: An alternative for the harness in body-powered upper-limb prostheses

Background: Body-powered prosthesis users frequently complain about the poor cosmesis and comfort of the traditional shoulder harness. The Ipsilateral Scapular Cutaneous Anchor System offers an alternative, but it remains unclear to what extent it affects the perception and control of cable operation forces compared to the traditional shoulder...

User capacities and operation forces: Requirements for body-powered upper-limb prostheses

In the Netherlands approximately 3750 persons have an arm defect: they miss (part of) their hand, forearm or even their entire arm. The majority of these people are in the possession of a prosthesis. This prosthesis can be purely cosmetic, or offer the user some grasping function. The latter can either be a body-powered or a myo-electric...

High cable forces deteriorate pinch force control in voluntary-closing body-powered prostheses

Background It is generally asserted that reliable and intuitive control of upper-limb prostheses requires adequate feedback of prosthetic finger positions and pinch forces applied to objects. Bodypowered prostheses (BPPs) provide the user with direct proprioceptive feedback. Currently available BPPs often require high cable operation forces,...

A need for a more user-centered design in body powered prostheses

Users of body powered prostheses (BPP) complain about too high operating forces, leading to pain and/or fatigue during or after prosthetic operation. In the worst case nerve and vessel damage can occur [1, 2], leading to nonuse of prostheses. Smit et al. investigated cable forces and displacements required to operate commercially available...