The i-Limb Hand is the world’s first
commercially available bionic hand which allows the wearer to change the grip
with a simple gesture. This prosthetic hand has individually powered fingers
and thumb, with a choice of grips. Inside of the molded forearm are two
electrodes that respond to muscular signals in the remaining limb. Sending a
signal to one electrode opens the hand, while sending signals to the other closes
the hand. This process of using gestures to change the grip is called gesture
control.
Computer science is heavily
involved when it comes to getting the i-Limb to actually move. The i-Limb Hand
has up to four different muscle triggers. The users are able to assign a grip
to move the device to a certain, commonly used position. These muscle triggers
include
1) “Hold open”: using open signal for set period of time
1) “Hold open”: using open signal for set period of time
2) “Double
impulse”: two quick open signals after hand is fully open
3)"Triple
impulse”: three quick open signals after hand is fully open
4)“Co-contraction”: contracting
both the open and close muscles simultaneously
When the user uses these muscle
triggers, the muscle signals are picked up by the electrodes, and sent to a
microprocessor, which is an integrated circuit that contains all the functions
of a central processing unit (CPU) of a computer. The microprocessor then
instructs the limb to open and close.
Aside from gesture control, the
i-Limb can also be controlled using the app. The user can open the app to
access up to 24 quick grips. The i-limb is programmed to change its position
once a new grip is selected. When the user activates any of these grips using
the app, the i-limb will then move to the grip that has been assigned to it
through the algorithm. As you can see, the i-limb can either take inputs from
the user’s muscular triggers, or through the app. The i-limb uses a
microprocessor to process the request, which then executes the action.
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This is a great article! I love seeing how scientists are making prosthetics more advanced and more human like, as that really benefits people who have lost a hand. Even more so, it is awesome that the user's input is used, because that would take away some of the anxiety caused with prosthetics feeling fake and foreign. The fact that it controls an app makes it so accessible to people these days; truly an incredible, innovative invention.
ReplyDeleteHi Sami---your topic is really interesting. I just can't imagine on how muscle impulse can be translated into codes. This just proves how powerful computer science is. This invention just show computer science is the future of the world!
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing. I was not aware that this technology has become so advanced, and it is especially incredible that it is connected to an app. I think that this field will continue to create body parts that are more and more real, which could be incredible for anyone who has to have a body part amputated for any reason. Imagine a soldier being able to fight again once a prosthetic becomes "life-like" enough. Very cool post!
ReplyDeleteI would have never thought the remaining nerve endings in your arm could be used to help control a mechanism like that! It's a really interesting type of input that I never thought was possible. I wonder if over time there will be more than four muscle triggers developed. Hopefully that could increase the functionality of the new hand.
ReplyDeleteIt's incredible how much technology has advanced. The fact that they can use computer science to create a hand that is so life-like is wild and amazing for people who have lost their own hand. The prosthetic hand with the artificial skin covering not only is inexplicably useful and functional but also probably makes people feel much less self conscious about their prosthetic. Very cool article!
ReplyDelete