Physiologically Relevant Prosthetic Limb Movement Feedback for Upper and Lower Extremity Amputees
Abstract
Recently there has been substantial investment in research to build highly functional arms and highly mobile powered legs to restore function to amputees. The development of state-of-the-art prosthetic limbs has been fueled by very real advancements in robotics and computer-driven devices that communicate directly with the nervous system. While these new limbs are wonders of modern engineering, a fundamental problem still remains. Without natural sensations from the skin and muscles, artificial limbs are still just numb tools. This lack of sensory feedback represents a complete departure from biological limbs where movement and touch feedback play vital roles in the seamless performance of everyday activities. Proprioception is the body s own sense of where it is in space. Our sense of limb movement is vastly important to the use of our arms and legs. The fundamental gap that must be addressed is that limb movement sensation is completely absent in amputees. Instead they must use their eyes and other cues at all times to tell them where their prosthetic limb is moving. As a consequence, it is extremely difficult to complete any type of manipulation or movement activity with a prosthetic hand without looking at what it is doing at all times. Similarly, people with prosthetic legs often have abnormal posture, difficulty with balance, and trouble standing still without swaying because they must rely on vision to maintain balance. This is even more important with prosthetic legs because those devices bear the amputee s body weight where lacking the sense of foot placement while walking or standing all too often leads to falls and injury. In prosthetics, the utmost goal for sensory feedback is the ability to return movement feedback from an artificial limb. Tapping into the sense of limb movement is integral to releasing the amputee from the need to rely so much on their eyes. This is the fundamental challenge in the seamless implementation of advanced prosthetic limb systems. With this proposed research, we want to help upper and lower limb amputees to feel the movement of their artificial limbs in a natural way so that they can use their devices more effectively and safely. Artificial limbs play an important role in the quality of amputee s lives. This proposed research will benefit amputee care by helping to develop more functional prosthetic limbs, which is a priority for both the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). According to the Amputee Coalition, there are almost two million people in the United States who are currently living with an amputation. Of these, roughly 45% result from trauma, which often affects the upper limb. In 2011, there were approximately 770,000 traumatic upper limb amputees in the United States overall. From the injured Service member perspective: from 2001 to 2006, a study of combat injuries (Afghanistan and Iraq) shows that traumatic amputation from the wrist or ankle up comprised 7.4% of major upper limb injuries. These individuals are young and active and will benefit from more functional prosthetics. Diabetes and peripheral arterial disease account for the majority (54%) of amputations in the United States. This is a major concern for the VA as these two conditions account for the top two largest chronic disease populations in the VA healthcare system, and the VA is the single largest clinical provider of prosthetic limbs in the world. This research team is well positioned to translate these approaches to clinical care because it bridges commercial, research, and clinical partners to bring tangible benefits to amputees. In addition, the Advanced Platform Technology VA Center of Excellence (APT Center) and the Cleveland Clinic Innovations Department are critical components of our established translational pathway. The missions of both of these affiliated entities are to foster development and translational implementation of clinicall
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Mar 29, 2016
- Source ID
- W81XWH1510575
Entities
People
- Paul D Marasco
Organizations
- Cleveland Clinic
- United States Army