An Underactuated Prosthetic Hand with Coupled Metacarpophalangeal Joints

Author(s):  
Ang Ke ◽  
Jian Huang ◽  
Jiping He ◽  
◽  

The design of a comfortable and functional prosthetic hand is still a challenge. This paper presents the design of a tendon-driven, 3D-printed, underactuated prosthetic hand. An improved structural design was developed to make the hand more flexible. Three fingers are equipped with abduction freedom at the metacarpophalangeal joints (MCP) to ensure natural enveloping for both cylinder and sphere-like objects. A force-sensing resistor (FSR) is adopted to measure the fingertip force of each finger. Experiments show that this type of structure design provides the hand with excellent dexterity, as the added abduction ensures natural enveloping grasp gestures for both cylinder and sphere-like objects. Moreover, a myoelectric control paradigm is implemented in the control system to demonstrate the feasibility.

Author(s):  
Juan Sebastian Cuellar ◽  
Dick Plettenburg ◽  
Amir A Zadpoor ◽  
Paul Breedveld ◽  
Gerwin Smit

Various upper-limb prostheses have been designed for 3D printing but only a few of them are based on bio-inspired design principles and many anatomical details are not typically incorporated even though 3D printing offers advantages that facilitate the application of such design principles. We therefore aimed to apply a bio-inspired approach to the design and fabrication of articulated fingers for a new type of 3D printed hand prosthesis that is body-powered and complies with basic user requirements. We first studied the biological structure of human fingers and their movement control mechanisms in order to devise the transmission and actuation system. A number of working principles were established and various simplifications were made to fabricate the hand prosthesis using a fused deposition modelling (FDM) 3D printer with dual material extrusion. We then evaluated the mechanical performance of the prosthetic device by measuring its ability to exert pinch forces and the energy dissipated during each operational cycle. We fabricated our prototypes using three polymeric materials including PLA, TPU, and Nylon. The total weight of the prosthesis was 92 g with a total material cost of 12 US dollars. The energy dissipated during each cycle was 0.380 Nm with a pinch force of ≈16 N corresponding to an input force of 100 N. The hand is actuated by a conventional pulling cable used in BP prostheses. It is connected to a shoulder strap at one end and to the coupling of the whiffle tree mechanism at the other end. The whiffle tree mechanism distributes the force to the four tendons, which bend all fingers simultaneously when pulled. The design described in this manuscript demonstrates several bio-inspired design features and is capable of performing different grasping patterns due to the adaptive grasping provided by the articulated fingers. The pinch force obtained is superior to other fully 3D printed body-powered hand prostheses, but still below that of conventional body powered hand prostheses. We present a 3D printed bio-inspired prosthetic hand that is body-powered and includes all of the following characteristics: adaptive grasping, articulated fingers, and minimized post-printing assembly. Additionally, the low cost and low weight make this prosthetic hand a worthy option mainly in locations where state-of-the-art prosthetic workshops are absent.


Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 1394
Author(s):  
Yong Sang Cho ◽  
So-Jung Gwak ◽  
Young-Sam Cho

In this study, we investigated the dual-pore kagome-structure design of a 3D-printed scaffold with enhanced in vitro cell response and compared the mechanical properties with 3D-printed scaffolds with conventional or offset patterns. The compressive modulus of the 3D-printed scaffold with the proposed design was found to resemble that of the 3D-printed scaffold with a conventional pattern at similar pore sizes despite higher porosity. Furthermore, the compressive modulus of the proposed scaffold surpassed that of the 3D-printed scaffold with conventional and offset patterns at similar porosities owing to the structural characteristics of the kagome structure. Regarding the in vitro cell response, cell adhesion, cell growth, and ALP concentration of the proposed scaffold for 14 days was superior to those of the control group scaffolds. Consequently, we found that the mechanical properties and in vitro cell response of the 3D-printed scaffold could be improved by kagome and dual-pore structures through DfAM. Moreover, we revealed that the dual-pore structure is effective for the in vitro cell response compared to the structures possessing conventional and offset patterns.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 4464
Author(s):  
Viritpon Srimaneepong ◽  
Artak Heboyan ◽  
Azeem Ul Yaqin Syed ◽  
Hai Anh Trinh ◽  
Pokpong Amornvit ◽  
...  

The loss of one or multiple fingers can lead to psychological problems as well as functional impairment. Various options exist for replacement and restoration after hand or finger loss. Prosthetic hand or finger prostheses improve esthetic outcomes and the quality of life for patients. Myoelectrically controlled hand prostheses have been used to attempt to produce different movements. The available articles (original research articles and review articles) on myoelectrically controlled finger/hand prostheses from January 1922 to February 2021 in English were reviewed using MEDLINE/PubMed, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect resources. The articles were searched using the keywords “finger/hand loss”, “finger prosthesis”, “myoelectric control”, and “prostheses” and relevant articles were selected. Myoelectric or electromyography (EMG) signals are read by myoelectrodes and the signals are amplified, from which the muscle’s naturally generated electricity can be measured. The control of the myoelectric (prosthetic) hands or fingers is important for artificial hand or finger movement; however, the precise control of prosthetic hands or fingers remains a problem. Rehabilitation after multiple finger loss is challenging. Implants in finger prostheses after multiple finger loss offer better finger prosthesis retention. This article presents an overview of myoelectric control regarding finger prosthesis for patients with finger implants following multiple finger loss.


2011 ◽  
Vol 421 ◽  
pp. 276-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ge Ning Xu ◽  
Hu Jun Xin ◽  
Feng Yi Lu ◽  
Ming Liang Yang

To assess the roller coaster multi-body system security, it is need to extract the running process of kinematics, dynamics, load spectrum and other features, as basis dates of the roller coaster structural design. Based on Solidworks/motion software and in the 3D model, the calculation formula of the carrying car velocity and acceleration is derived, and the five risk points of the roller coaster track section are found by simulation in the running, and the simulation results of roller coaster axle mass center velocity are compared with theoretical calculation results, which error is less than 4.1%, indicating that the calculation and simulation have a good fit and providing the evidence for the roller coaster structure design analysis.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 026006 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Couraud ◽  
D Cattaert ◽  
F Paclet ◽  
P Y Oudeyer ◽  
A de Rugy

2014 ◽  
Vol 937 ◽  
pp. 74-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shu Zhan Bai ◽  
Shuai Guo Lang ◽  
Ke Ping Yuan ◽  
Yang Liu ◽  
Guo Xiang Li

Avoiding the urea deposition in the exhaust stream is one of the basic requirements for SCR system normal application. Unreasonable structure design, machining and installation position all could lead to urea crystallization on the wall of exhaust pipe and the front end surface of the catalyst, in addition, unreasonable control strategy also could deteriorate this phenomenon. The components of the urea depositions are the urea and cyanuric acid analyzed by thermogravimetry - FTIR technology. The integrated injector mounting is designed to alleviate the urea crystallization based on analysis results. The engine test and the vehicle road test are all shown that the optimal structural design and calibration strategies could avoid crystallization and sedimentation effectively in the exhaust system.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Zhao ◽  
Gang Wang ◽  
Jinlun Cai ◽  
Junchen Guo

<p>With the continuous development and progress of society, the structure of high-rise buildings has been paid more and more attention by the engineering community. However, the existing high- rise structure design methods often have a lot of redundancy and have a lot of room for optimization. Most of the existing seismic design methods of high-rise structures are based on engineering experience and manual iterative methods, so that the efficiency of design can not meet the needs of the society. if the method of design automation is adopted, the workload of designers can be greatly reduced and the efficiency of structural design can be improved. Based on the digital modeling theory, this paper proposes a MAD automatic design algorithm, in which the designer provides the initial design of the structure, and the algorithm carries out the modeling, analysis, optimization and design of each stage of the structure, and finally obtains the optimal structure. The structural design module of this algorithm starts from the component level, when the component constraint design meets the limit requirements of the specification, it enters and completes the component constraint design and the global constraint design of the structure in turn. In this paper, taking a ten-story braced steel frame high-rise structure as an example, the optimal design is carried out, and its seismic performance is analyzed. the results show that the MAD automatic design algorithm can distribute the materials to each part reasonably, which can significantly improve the seismic performance of the structure and realize the effective seismic design.</p>


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