A research team in Australia addressed the gap between existing designs of soft prosthetic hands and the practical requirements highlighted in prosthetics research by considering the trade-offs between practicality and performance. Their design satisfied the practical design requirements, and the soft prosthetic hand can perform all the real-world grasping tasks of the benchmark tests, showing potential in improving quality of life for individuals with upper-limb loss.
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The design incorporates 3D-printed soft materials that incorporate membrane-enclosed flexure joints in the finger designs, synergy-based thumb motion, and a cable-driven actuation system in the proposed hand prosthesis. The team’s systematic design, tentatively named X-Limb, weighs 253g, has three grasps types (with capability of individual finger movement), power-grip force of 21.5N, finger flexion speed of 1.3 seconds, minimum grasping cycles of 45,000 (while maintaining its original functionality), and material cost of $200 (excluding quick disconnect wrist but without factoring in the cost reduction through mass production), according to the study.
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The practical application of the prosthesis was demonstrated through performance of real-world grasping tasks based on a standard Activities Measure for Upper-Limb Amputees benchmark test.
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For more information, see the open-access study “A practical 3D-printed soft robotic prosthetic hand with multi-articulating capabilities” in PLOS One.
