Radio frequency identification--an innovative solution to guide dexterous prosthetic hands

Abstract

Dexterous manipulation of a multi-fingered prosthetic hand requires far more cognitive effort compared to typical 1 degree of freedom hands, which hinders their acceptance clinically. This paper presents a Myoelectrically-Operated Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Prosthetic Hand (MORPH); an implementation of RFID with a myoelectric prosthetic hand as a means to amplify the controllable degrees of freedom. Contextual information from an object equipped with an RFID tag allows automatic preshaping along with dexterous control in an attempt to reduce the cognitive effort required to operate the terminal device. The myoelectric-RFID hybrid has been demonstrated in a proof-of-concept case study where an amputee was fitted with the device and subjected to activities adapted from the Jebsen Hand Function Test and the Smith Hand Function Evaluation with RFID-tagged and untagged items. Evaluation tests revealed that the MORPH system performed significantly better in 4 of the 8 tasks, and comparable to the control in the remainder.

Fig. 1.

State diagram of the MORPH. Control is mediated by electromyographic input and/or successful RFID identifications.

Fig. 2.

The labeled image of the MORPH prototype is shown in detail. The RFID board and antenna fit inside the socket, and is secured to the coaxial connector. The Otto Bock electrode connections along with wires running to a battery can be seen on the socket side of the PCB.

Fig. 3

A box and whisker plot illustrating the median, and extreme values of the timed JASPER results (n=5 repetitions). Large Light Objects, Zipper, Large Pegs, and Small Objects show statistically significant quicker results with the MORPH system.