Targeted muscle reinnervation in upper limb amputees

Abstract

Above-elbow or even shoulder-level amputations pose a major disability leading to a challenging prosthetic replacement [5]. Although homologous limb transplantation at the above-elbow level of amputation is possible, the functional outcome is questionable, and the risks of immunosuppression still remain high; thus prosthetic limb replacement represents the standard of care up to date [13, 14]. However, conventional myoelectric control limits speed and natural fluency of movements; thus selective nerve transfers are used to multiplicate myoelectric sites and enhance prosthetic control.