Implantable myoelectric sensors for prosthetic control

Abstract

While prosthetic technology has been continuously advancing over the last decades, the bottleneck of translation into intuitive and natural prosthetic control has been the functional interface between user and prosthesis. Currently used surface electrodes entail various shortcomings, ranging from low selectivity to frequent signal instability. Most of these limitations can be overcome by implantation of myoelectric sensors, thereby moving them closer to the biological signal source. Different implantable solutions for prosthetic interfacing have been developed and tested in animal as well as human studies. This chapter will give a short overview of the current limitations and go on to present promising implantable solutions as well as a future outlook.