Dexterous Control of a Prosthetic Hand Using Fine-wire Intramuscular Electrodes

Biomechatronics Development Laboratory | University of Colorado

Chief Scientist

This work enabled simultaneous direct control of four degrees of freedom of a myoelectric prosthetic hand for the first time.  With my collaborators from the BioRobotics Institute at Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Pisa, Italy, I devised the control system and performed the empirical research and analysis.

Publications

1C. Cipriani, J. L. Segil, J. A. Birdwell, and R. F. Weir. “Dexterous Control of a Prosthetic Hand Using Fine-wire Intramuscular Electrodes in Targeted Extrinsic Muscles.” (in submission).

Diagram showing where the prosthetic hands connect to nerves.

Physiologically appropriate human-machine interface

Data from four intramuscular electrodes. The first is thumb abduction which has a high ROM %. The second is FPL thumb flexion hovers around 50 ROM%.. The third is FDP index flexion which also hovers around 50% ROM. The fourth is middle flexion which starts lower but ends around 70%.

Raw data from four intramuscular electrodes

12 images of a prosthetic hand demonstrating different sign language shapes.

12 target postures from American Sign Language

A man with three sensors attached to his arm.

Intramuscular electrode inserted with needle in forearm

A prosthetic hand holding a bottle.

4-site intramuscular direct myoelectric control

A person's arm being set up with a prosthetic hand.

4-site intramuscular direct myoelectric control