Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Development of a prosthesis shoulder mechanism for upper limb amputees: application of an original design methodology to optimize functionality and wearability

  • Special Issue - Original Article
  • Published:
Medical & Biological Engineering & Computing Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The application of a design methodology for the determination of the optimal prosthesis architecture for a given upper limb amputee is presented in this paper along with the discussion of its results. In particular, a novel procedure was used to provide the main guidelines for the design of an actuated shoulder articulation for externally powered prostheses. The topology and the geometry of the new articulation were determined as the optimal compromise between wearability (for the ease of use and the patient’s comfort) and functionality of the device (in terms of mobility, velocity, payload, etc.). This choice was based on kinematic and kinetostatic analyses of different upper limb prosthesis models and on purpose-built indices that were set up to evaluate the models from different viewpoints. Only 12 of the 31 simulated prostheses proved a sufficient level of functionality: among these, the optimal solution was an articulation having two actuated revolute joints with orthogonal axes for the elevation of the upper arm in any vertical plane and a frictional joint for the passive adjustment of the humeral intra-extra rotation. A prototype of the mechanism is at the clinical test stage.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Anglin C, Wyss UP (2000) Review of arm motion analyses. Proc Inst Mech Eng [H] 214(5):541–555. doi:10.1243/0954411001535570

    Google Scholar 

  2. Atkins DJ, Meier RHIII (1989) Comprehensive management of the upper-limb amputee. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

  3. Borghi C, Troncossi M, Parenti-Castelli V et al (2007) A new protocol for experimental determination of human hand reference trajectories for the synthesis of upper limb prostheses. In: Proceedings of the AIMETA 2007, Brescia, Italy, September 2007

  4. Cattaneo B, Casolo F, Camposaragna M et al (2001) An innovative shoulder complex with two active axes for artificial upper limbs. In: Proceedings of the ISB, Zurich, Switzerland, July 2001, p 221

  5. Dennis JE, Schnabel RB (1996) Numerical methods for unconstrained optimization and nonlinear equations. SIAM, Philadelphia

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  6. Dillingham TR, Pezzin LE, MacKenzie EJ (2002) Limb amputation and limb deficiency: epidemiology and recent trends in the United States. South Med J 95(8):875–883

    Google Scholar 

  7. Garcìa de Jalon J, Bayo E (1994) Kinematic and dynamic simulation of multibody systems: the real-time challenge. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

  8. Gow DJ, Douglas W, Geggie C et al (2001) The development of the Edinburgh modular arm system. Proc Inst Mech Eng [H] 215(3):291–298. doi:10.1243/0954411011535885

    Google Scholar 

  9. Gruppioni E, Chiossi M, Davalli A et al (2008) A new actuated prosthetic shoulder: from the design to the first in vivo test. In: Proceedings of the MEC’08, New Brunswick, Canada, August 2008

  10. Higashihara T, Saito Y, Itoh H (1987) The development of a microcomputer-controlled electrical prosthesis with six degrees of freedom. In: Proceedings of the IFToMM 7th congress, vol 3. pp 1841–1844

  11. Hungspreugs P, Heckathorne CW, Childress DS (2000) Computer simulation tool for upper-limb prosthesis design. In: Proceedings of the EMBS, Chicago, USA, July 2000, pp 1964–1967

  12. Jiménez P, Thomas F, Torras C (2001) 3D collision detection: a survey. Comput Graph (ACM) 25(2):269–285. doi:10.1016/S0097-8493(00)00130-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Klopčar N, Lenarčič J (2005) Kinematic model for the determination of human arm reachable workspace. Meccanica 40(2):203–219. doi:10.1007/s11012-005-3067-0

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  14. McWilliam RP (1970) A list of everyday tasks for use in prosthesis design and development. Bull Prosthet Res 10(13):135–164

    Google Scholar 

  15. Miguelez JM (2002) Critical factors in electrically powered upper-extremity prosthetics. JPO 14(1):36–38

    Google Scholar 

  16. Paul RB (1981) Robot manipulators: mathematics, programming, and control (artificial intelligence). MIT Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  17. Ramanathan R, Eberhardt SP, Rahman T et al (2000) Analysis of arm trajectories of everyday tasks for the development of an upper-limb orthoses. IEEE Trans Rehabil Eng 8(1):60–70. doi:10.1109/86.830950

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Romilly DP, Anglin C, Gosine RG et al (1994) A functional task analysis and motion simulation for the development of a powered upper-limb orthosis. IEEE Trans Rehabil Eng 2(3):119–129. doi:10.1109/86.331561

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Simpson DC, Kenworthy G (1973) The design of a complete arm prosthesis. Biomed Eng 8(2):56–59

    Google Scholar 

  20. Stanger CA, Anglin C, Harwin WS et al (1994) Devices for assisting manipulation: a summary of user task priorities. IEEE Trans Rehabil Eng 2(4):256–265. doi:10.1109/86.340872

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Troncossi M, Parenti-Castelli V (2007) Synthesis of prosthesis architectures and design of prosthetic devices for upper limb amputees. In: Rehabilitation robotics. I-Tech Education and Publishing, Vienna, pp 555–578

  22. Troncossi M, Parenti-Castelli V, Chiossi M et al (2007) Experimental characterization of prosthetic mechanisms with one-degree of freedom. In: Proceedings of the AIMETA 2007, Brescia, Italy, September 2007

  23. Weir RF, Grahn EG (2005) Powered humeral rotator for persons with shoulder disarticulation amputations. In: Proceedings of the MEC’05, New Brunswick, Canada, August 2005

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, DIEM, University of Bologna, via Fontanelle, 40, 47100, Forlì, Italy

    Marco Troncossi, Corrado Borghi & Vincenzo Parenti-Castelli

  2. INAIL Prostheses Centre, Vigorso di Budrio, Bologna, Italy

    Marco Chiossi & Angelo Davalli

Authors
  1. Marco Troncossi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Corrado Borghi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Marco Chiossi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Angelo Davalli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Vincenzo Parenti-Castelli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marco Troncossi.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Troncossi, M., Borghi, C., Chiossi, M. et al. Development of a prosthesis shoulder mechanism for upper limb amputees: application of an original design methodology to optimize functionality and wearability. Med Biol Eng Comput 47, 523–531 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-009-0465-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-009-0465-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation