Sensory feedback in a myoelectric upper limb prosthesis: a preliminary report.
Upper limb prostheses are often rejected because they do not provide the sensory feedback available from a normal hand. A system for providing sensory feedback has been developed at the University of New Brunswick for use with the three-state myoelectric controls prepared in the Bioengineering Institute there. Strain gauges mounted on the forefinger of an electric hand provide information which is processed electronically to cause a tingling sensation in the patient's stump, proportional in its intensity to the pinch force in the finger. This system has been used by a patient at the Ontario Crippled Children's Centre in Toronto, since June 1976. She uses it consistently with great satisfaction and enthusiasm. It gives her a sense of competence and confidence she does not have without it.
D001132:Arm; D001186:Artificial Limbs; D001676:Biofeedback, Psychology; D001698:Biomedical Engineering; D002648:Child; D004582:Electronics, Medical; D005260:Female; D006225:Hand; D006801:Humans; D012677:Sensation