Below elbow amputees - prosthetic benchmark activities

Comment

Comment by Wolf Schweitzer on March 11, 2010 at 8:32am

Thanks, very interesting resources!

I guess that testing measures should only test what objectively can be checked. If you want to take the garbage out, the test should really check whether the TD does hold on to the thin plastic of the bag. And that can be measured. And so it should be measured. That type of function determines how cramped up my shoulders are at the end of the day. And that can be measured too.

Conversely, we also use prosthetic devices as props. They then have no real mechanical function, then they are just place holders. That function in my view is very important too - but testing would be done differently.

Also, testing should have a purpose beyond assessing a particular prosthetic setup. It should allow for comparison, and various conclusions towards improving the situation.

So I will give all of this a good read and a good think!

Comment by Jon Kuniholm on March 5, 2010 at 11:08am

I was a member of a Google Group on Upper Limb Prosthetic Outcome Measures that came out of a session at the 2008 Myoelectric Symposium at UNB.

Members of the group have published a few things, including a course on the subject you can take for free and a bunch of JPO articles on the topic.

Significantly, there is a lot of focus on "validation" or the scientific verification that whatever artificial measures that are created for a study are truly representative of real-world outcome success or failure.

I think that a good start here would be to review all of this material and see what everyone thinks about the results, and to begin commenting with the Academy stuff as our starting point.

Comment by Reinhard Ruppelt on March 1, 2010 at 2:10pm

Some ideas without ranking:

insensitivity with respect to electromagnetic fields
high myo signal selectivity in order to identify the correct muscle control signal even in case of arm movements
avoidance of false signal control
digital signal processing
pronation and supination enabling
flexor / extensor function
silent engine running
comfortable wearing avoiding skin irritations
easy put on / take off
cool, nice, trendy, esthetic appearance
stain prevention

Comment by Wolf Schweitzer on February 15, 2010 at 2:03pm

We all agree that it does not take lots of proficiency to sit in the bathtub and watch TV (which is possible with or without any type of prosthesis).

However, picking up a number of 5 mm sized wooden balls from a flat surface is a more demanding test, picking up smaller items even more. Juggling a water pitcher is not nearly as easy as "holding a newspaper".

However, functional aspects of prosthetic hands / arms serve ... function - and nothing else. That is what I would like to closely examine.

Obviously, it's a bang for buck question - a cheap arm is OK to fail some of these, the more expensive a setup becomes, the more we will and in fact must expect of the product. I also expect insurances to judge prosthetic solutions against the functional hard value that they deliver and without a proper measure, that judgment can be a bit hard to come by.

Ultimately, I am after not necessarily the most powerful product but I am definitely after a qualitatively hopefully well made price/performance comparison.

Comment by Wolf Schweitzer on February 15, 2010 at 1:10pm

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14293031