Witteveen Heidi J B, Rietman Hans S, Veltink Peter H
Biomedical Signals and Systems, MIRA institute for Biomedical Engineering and Technical Medicine, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands
Roessingh Research and Development, Enschede, The Netherlands Biomechanical Engineering, MIRA institute for Biomedical Engineering and Technical Medicine, University of Twente, Enschede, the Netherlands.
Prosthet Orthot Int. 2015 Jun;39(3):204-12. doi: 10.1177/0309364614522260. Epub 2014 Feb 24.
User feedback about grasping force and hand aperture is very important in object handling with myoelectric forearm prostheses but is lacking in current prostheses. Vibrotactile feedback increases the performance of healthy subjects in virtual grasping tasks, but no extensive validation on potential users has been performed.
Investigate the performance of upper-limb loss subjects in grasping tasks with vibrotactile stimulation, providing hand aperture, and grasping force feedback.
Cross-over trial.
A total of 10 subjects with upper-limb loss performed virtual grasping tasks while perceiving vibrotactile feedback. Hand aperture feedback was provided through an array of coin motors and grasping force feedback through a single miniature stimulator or an array of coin motors. Objects with varying sizes and weights had to be grasped by a virtual hand.
Percentages correctly applied hand apertures and correct grasping force levels were all higher for the vibrotactile feedback condition compared to the no-feedback condition. With visual feedback, the results were always better compared to the vibrotactile feedback condition. Task durations were comparable for all feedback conditions.
Vibrotactile grasping force and hand aperture feedback improves grasping performance of subjects with upper-limb loss. However, it should be investigated whether this is of additional value in daily-life tasks.
This study is a first step toward the implementation of sensory vibrotactile feedback for users of myoelectric forearm prostheses. Grasping force feedback is crucial for optimal object handling, and hand aperture feedback is essential for reduction of required visual attention. Grasping performance with feedback is evaluated for the potential users.
在使用肌电前臂假肢进行物体抓握时，用户对抓握力和手部开度的反馈非常重要，但目前的假肢缺乏此类反馈。振动触觉反馈可提高健康受试者在虚拟抓握任务中的表现，但尚未对潜在用户进行广泛验证。
研究上肢缺失受试者在接受振动触觉刺激、手部开度和抓握力反馈的抓握任务中的表现。
交叉试验。
10名上肢缺失受试者在感知振动触觉反馈的同时执行虚拟抓握任务。通过一组硬币电机提供手部开度反馈，通过单个微型刺激器或一组硬币电机提供抓握力反馈。虚拟手必须抓取大小和重量各异的物体。
与无反馈条件相比，振动触觉反馈条件下正确应用手部开度的百分比和正确抓握力水平均更高。与振动触觉反馈条件相比，有视觉反馈时结果总是更好。所有反馈条件下的任务持续时间相当。
振动触觉抓握力和手部开度反馈可改善上肢缺失受试者的抓握表现。然而，这种反馈在日常生活任务中是否具有额外价值仍有待研究。
本研究是朝着为肌电前臂假肢用户实施感觉振动触觉反馈迈出的第一步。抓握力反馈对于优化物体操作至关重要，手部开度反馈对于减少所需视觉注意力至关重要。对潜在用户的带反馈抓握表现进行了评估。
