3D Printing Low-Cost Prosthetic Arms for the Developing World (original) (raw)
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A 3D-printed EEG based prosthetic arm
2019
Nowadays there are multiple accidents of all kinds that generally trigger an amputation for the affected person, an automated orthopedic prosthesis is usually very far from the reach of people with limited resources; However, the creation of a 3D printed prosthesis with inexpensive materials can solve this problem as well as having independent movements that only require the individual to carry a device in their head, which orders movements to the orthopedic device. For this study, a prosthesis of a right arm was designed and constructed by means of 3D printing in order to open and close the hand correctly, the movements of the prosthesis worked through a device called Neurosky Mindwave 2 placed in the head which by means of a frontal sensor received the degree of concentration of the person and wirelessly transmitted this signal to the electronic and mechanical elements responsible for controlling the hand. In this way, when concentrating the person can close the hand, while to decentralize can open it. Through several tests done on a volunteer with an amputation in his arm it was determined that his mental concentration was high, and he could maintain a constant range of attention to open or close his hand according to his disposition. In this way, the utility of our prosthesis based on EEG neural signals is beneficial for the amputee since the element provides comfort, ease of use and omission of several cables and sensors attached to the arm or head.
Development of a Prosthetic Hand Operated by EEG Brain Signals and EMG Muscle Signals
The aim of this study is to develop a low cost prosthetic hand for the people of third world countries. In most cases the prosthesis requires surgery and very costly sensors which is not feasible for poor people. So a new approach is introduced in our study where Electroencephalography sensor and Electromyography sensor is used as a combination to receive necessary brain and muscle signals respectively to operate the artificial hand. Since both types of sensors do not require any direct contact with the nerves rather skin contact only, this study has shown potential for surgery-free implantation of the hand. In our study a new linkage mechanism is utilized for controlling each finger with a single motor. Our study showed that using attention level of human mind, the prosthetic hand can be operated to grab and release objects of different size and shape within a certain weight limit. Also force exerted and finger patterns can be controlled with muscle signals.
Human-centered Electric Prosthetic (HELP) Hand
2020
In developing countries such as India, there is a higher rate of amputations among the population but a lack of viable, low cost solutions. Through a partnership with Indian non-profit Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS), the team designed a functional, robust, and low cost electrically powered prosthetic hand that communicates with people with unilateral, transradial amputations in urban India through a biointerface. The device uses compliant tendon actuation, small linear servos, and a wearable sleeve outfitted with electromyography (EMG) sensors to produce a device that, once placed inside a prosthetic glove, is anthropomorphic in both look and feel. The hand is capable of forming three grips through the use of a manually adjustable opposable thumb: the key, pinch, and wrap grips. The hand also provides vibrotactile user feedback upon completion of a grip. The design includes a prosthetic gel liner to provide a layer of cushion and comfort for safe use by the user. These results show that it is possible to create a low cost, electrically powered prosthetic hand for users in developing countries without sacrificing functionality. In order for this design to be truly adjustable to each user, the creation of an easily navigable graphical user interface (GUI) will have to be a future goal. The prosthesis prototype was developed such that future groups can design for manufacturing and distribution in India.
SHS Web of Conferences
Despite the advancement of prosthetic hands, many of the conventional products are difficult to control and have limited capabilities. Even though these limitations are being pushed by many state-of-the-art commercial prosthetic hand products, they are often expensive due to the high cost of production. Therefore, in the Adaptive Neuroprosthesis Arm (NeuroSys) project, we aim to develop a low-cost prosthetic hand with high functionalities that let users perform various gestures and accurate grasp. This paper mainly focuses on the sEMG signal recognition and control for a prototype 3D printed prosthetic hand model. In this work, we have considered the prosthetic hand to operate from a non-intrusive sensor, surface Electromyographic signal (sEMG). The signal used to control the prosthetic hand is received from a low-cost, 8-channel sEMG sensor, Myo armband. The sensor is placed around a person’s upper forearm under the elbow, and the signal is sent wirelessly to a computer. After the ...
Galileo Hand: An Anthropomorphic and Affordable Upper-Limb Prosthesis
IEEE Access
The strict development processes of commercial upper-limb prostheses and the complexity of research projects required for their development makes them expensive for end users, both in terms of acquisition and maintenance. Moreover, many of them possess complex ways to operate and interact with the subjects, influencing patients to not favor these devices and shed them from their activities of daily living. The advent of 3D printers allows for distributed open-source research projects that follow new design principles; these consider simplicity without neglecting performance in terms of grasping capabilities, power consumption and controllability. In this work, a simple, yet functional design based on 3D printing is proposed, with the aim to reduce costs and manufacturing time. The operation process consists in interpreting the user intent with electromyography electrodes, while providing visual feedback through a µLCD screen. Its modular, parametric and self-contained design is intended to aid people with different transradial amputation levels, despite of the socket's constitution. This approach allows for easy updates of the system and demands a low cognitive effort from the user, satisfying a trade-off between functionality and low cost. It also grants an easy customization of the amount and selection of available actions, as well as the sensors used for gathering the user intent, permitting alterations to fit the patients' unique needs. Furthermore, experimental results showed an apt mechanical performance when interacting with everyday life objects, in addition to a highly accurate and responsive controller; this also applies for the user-prosthesis interface. INDEX TERMS Prosthetic hand, three-dimensional printing, electromyography, user-prosthesis interface.
Prosthetic limbs Interfacing with Electromygraphy (EMG) Signal.
This thesis is based on collecting EMG (Electromyography) signal from our body and interfacing that with microcontroller and with software simulation combination that means building up a bionic system that will help people who lost their limbs in an accident or in any other incident.Total process has 2 parts. Hardware part: That includes a machine with micro controller with a code burned into it (to rotate or control a stepper motor) that will be placed at the position of the lost limbs. Signal part: That includes the switch to the Hardware part. That is so called EMG signal which will be detected form our skeletal muscles and forwarded this signal to the hardware part. For every movement there is a specific signal from our brain that will control the Hardware part with the signal. The total Thesis is on developing the whole system, studying on biomedical terms, taking the signal from body, characterise them &the Hardware part.
E-MAN… (A HAND CUM LEG INSTRUMENT). FOR THE AMPUTEES OF THIS UNIVERSE
IJTRET, 2021
Necessity is the mother of all inventions. Brain-The Master of our body generates signals in accord with our thoughts and decrees every part to perform the desired actions. This paper is a boon to the amputees (those who lost their both legs and hands). Our main objective of this paper is to make the amputees to do some of the works as like normal human beings and also to do some extra works that even a normal man cannot able to do that with his normal hands and legs. This paper targets in trapping the signals by the use of EPOC NEURO HEADSET (A 14 Electrode Headset Can Detect Facial Gestures, And It's Built In Gyroscope Detects Head Movements, Which Is Attached To The Scalp In Order To Monitor The Brain Wave Activity In Different Parts Of The Brain) and feed the signals to the so designed artificial hands. This proposed system is different from the already existing ones. It can encompass activities like peeling; lifting heavier objects, and also feel things as our normal human hand. it can lift the whole weight of its own body. The existing models can provide only support but the proposed prototype for this paper can respond to External Stimulus and performs all the actions with only by means of the brain signals, and can do major activities using our brain and brain computer interface, without depending on others.
Development of a sustainable and ergonomic interface for the EMG control of prosthetic hands
6th EAI International Conference on Wireless Mobile Communication and Healthcare, November 14–16, 2016, Milano, Italy, 2016
Most of the interfaces of the current upper limb prosthetic device are rigid. However, human limbs and body are a combination of rigid and soft parts. Such a combination inherently suggests to implement soft ergonomic interfaces between the human body and such prosthetic devices. To this aim we have developed a novel set of wearable solutions, including a textile sleeve embedding EMG electrodes for the control of hand prosthesis. This interface has been integrated and preliminary tested in order to control a 5 d.o.f. low cost robotic hand.
Real Time Control of Hand Prosthesis Using EMG
2016
Current solutions for below the elbow amputees include affordable prosthesis allowing only a single movement or highly expensive prosthesis allowing several gestures. In this project, our goal was to design a system that provides an inexpensive, multi-functional solution for the hand prosthesis problem. We construct a real-time, portable system based on the Myo armband and a 3D printed prosthesis and show that this framework can provide a good and inexpensive solution for below the elbow amputees of all ages.
VIVA-Tech International Journal for Research and Innovation, 2021
A robotic arm is a Programmable mechanical arm which copies the functions of the human arm. They are widely used in industries. Human robot-controlled interfaces mainly focus on providing rehabilitation to amputees in order to overcome their amputation or disability leading them to live a normal life. The major objective of this project is to develop a movable robotic arm controlled by EMG signals from the muscles of the upper limb. In this system, our main aim is on providing a low 2-dimensional input derived from emg to move the arm. This project involves creating a prosthesis system that allows signals recorded directly from the human body. The arm is mainly divided into 2 parts, control part and moving part. Movable part contains the servo motor which is connected to the Arduino Uno board, and it helps in developing a motion in accordance with the EMG signals acquired from the body. The control part is the part that is controlled by the operation according to the movement of the amputee. Mainly the initiation of the movement for the threshold fixed in the coding. The major aim of the project is to provide an affordable and easily operable device that helps even the poor sections of the amputated society to lead a happier and normal life by mimicking the functions of the human arm in terms of both the physical, structural as well as functional aspects.