Basic requirements for upper extremity prostheses: the WILMER approach

Author

Plettenburg, Dick H.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Mech. Eng., Delft Univ. of Technol., Netherlands

Volume

5

fYear

1998

fDate

28 Oct-1 Nov 1998

Firstpage

2276

Abstract

Many prostheses are not being used because of the discrepancy between the expectations of patients with an arm defect and the reality. A patient wants and expects a prosthesis that looks naturally beautiful, that is comfortable to wear and that is easy to use. None of the existing prostheses fulfils all these demands. Nevertheless by soundly informing and educating the patient and by a proper use of the state of the art in upper extremity prosthetics, a lot is gained in really helping the patient. Moreover, a lot still has to be done in developing new prosthetic devices that really fulfil the basic needs of a patient with an arm defect. Some examples of the efforts of the WILMER group in this field are discussed

Keywords

artificial limbs; biocontrol; controllability; ergonomics; WILMER prehensor; body power; comfort; controllability; cosmetic aspects; elbow control; inadequate equipment; incompetent professionals; open socket; patient expectations; shoulder harness; upper extremity prostheses; voluntary closing hand prosthesis; Control systems; Extremities; Friction; Man machine systems; Mechanical engineering; Prosthetics;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 1998. Proceedings of the 20th Annual International Conference of the IEEE

Conference_Location

Hong Kong

ISSN

1094-687X

Print_ISBN

0-7803-5164-9

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IEMBS.1998.744691

Filename

744691