Because prosthesis users often have to rely on vision to monitor the activity of their prostheses, which can be cognitively demanding and disrupt normal patterns of eye-hand coordination, a team of researchers studied how visuomotor behaviors change when a myoelectric prosthesis is used. The study concluded that prosthetic interventions should aim to reduce the prostheses’ attentional demand while also increasing movement functionality.
Nine participants without limb difference tested two control strategies: a simulated myoelectric prosthesis with a standard control strategy, and an advanced position-aware control strategy designed to address the limb position effect. Eye tracking and motion capture data were collected as the participants completed functional tasks to determine if using the position-aware control strategy changed visuomotor behavior compared to the standard controller.
The researchers found less visual fixation on the prosthetic hand in the fully extended and cross-body arm position when using the position-aware controller compared to the standard controller, which were associated with shorter grasp phase duration and increased smoothness of prosthesis movements. They concluded that visuomotor metrics may be sensitive to prosthesis control interventions, and therefore the use of eye tracking should be considered for performance assessment of prosthesis control.
The open-access study, “Exploring the impact of myoelectric prosthesis controllers on visuomotor behavior,” was published in the Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation.
