Erik Engeberg, PhD, University of Akron, Ohio, and Sanford Meek, PhD, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, have concluded through recent research that providing visual feedback about grip force can improve the manipulation of brittle or rigid objects for those using a prosthetic hand. Engeberg and Meek used and rated visual feedback supplied to the user through a bicolor LED mounted to the thumb to communicate grip force requirements.
A “hybrid force-velocity sliding mode controller” was used with and without additional visual force feedback as part of the research methodology. The results provided a statistically significant improvement in handling brittle objects with the prosthesis when using the visual force feedback. The results of the research could lead to the implementation of a noninvasive, functional, and cost-effective technique to visually indicate to upper-limb amputees the grip force applied by a prosthetic hand.
Additional details about the study and its methods can be found at Prosthetics and Orthotics International.
