Variable Stiffness Upper Limb Prosthesis

ongoing

Losing a limb can profoundly impact a person's physical, emotional, and social well-being. While current upper limb prostheses restore users' basic motor capabilities, they fall short of replicating the natural appearance and functionality of a human limb. The innate compliance and controllable stiffness of the human musculoskeletal system allow individuals to adapt seamlessly to various tasks and environments. Intuitively, prostheses with user-controllable stiffness could mimic this behaviour, promoting safe and natural interactions. However, current upper limb prostheses feature rigid actuation, which limits their versatility. Within the “VSoft Pro” ERC Proof of Concept project, we propose to develop a transhumeral upper limb prosthesis featuring user-controllable stiffness and passive adaptability. The developed prostheses leverage soft robotics principles to closely replicate the morphology and functionality of a human limb, paving the way to a more natural limb restoration experience that could augment users’ acceptance rate. The project will also focus on the development of intuitive control, empowering users to manage their bionic limb as an extension of their own body. Preliminary investigations aim to assess users’ needs to tailor the design of prosthetic devices to their preferences. Further goal of this research is to evaluate the advantages of voluntary stiffness control over classical rigid prostheses during functional tasks and activities of daily living, informing the development of future advanced prosthetic solutions. Finally, the Proof of Concept project will be focused on building a clinically viable prototype, and demonstrating its application in relevant scenarios.