Development of Pneumatic Myoelectric Hand with Simple Motion Selection

Of the 82 thousand upper-extremity amputees in our country, the majority use prosthetic hands. Recently, research and development of myoelectric hand have come to the forefront. However, due to the usage of multiple electric actuators, the myoelectric hand is heavy, structurally complicated and expensive. Thus, the authors propose a pneumatically-driven prosthetic hand with bellows incorporated in the joint. This grip force exceeds that of general pneumatically-driven prosthetic hands. Also it is lightweight of 240i¾?g, reducing user fatigue. The hand's control performance showed quick response to the reference angle and pressure. Moreover, this prosthetic hand enables grasping, pinching, and typing by simple motion selection although it is not equipped with motion estimation.