Design considerations in a myoelectric hand prosthesis

The design of a myoelectric control system, for use with an electrically powered hand prosthesis, is described. This system, developed for the Ministry of Health from an experimental system due to Bottomley and Cowell, has proportional control of velocity and force. Although functionally simple, the design is complicated by the need to fulfil a number of requirements, notably low power consumption, convenient size and weight, good reliability, ease of maintenance and ease of adjustment. A significant degree of power economy is achieved by automatic removal of the drive when the desired grip is attained. Important features of the design are given, and an analysis is made of the feedback system.