Toward the Development of a Neuro-Controlled Bidirectional Hand Prosthesis

Abstract

The hand is a powerful tool and its loss causes severe physi- cal and often mental debilitation. Surveys on artificial hands reveal that 30 to 50% amputees do not use their prosthetic hand regularly, due to its low functionality. The fundamental issue is therefore to improve the voluntarily-controlled dexterity to allow amputee to perform tasks that are necessary for activities of daily living and that cannot yet be done with the state-of-the-art artificial limbs. The NEBIAS project, launched at the start of November 2013, aims at developing and clinically evaluating a neuro-controlled upper limb prosthesis intuitively controlled and felt by the amputee as the natural one.