Article

Persons with an upper-limb amputation who use a body-powered prosthesis typically
control the prehensor through contralateral shoulder movement, which is
transmitted through a Bowden cable. Increased cable tension either opens or
closes the prehensor; when tension is released, some passive element, such as a
spring, returns the prehensor to the default state (closed or open). In this
study, we used the Southampton Hand Assessment Procedure to examine functional
differences between these two types of prehensors in 29 nondisabled subjects (who
used a body-powered bypass prosthesis) and 2 persons with unilateral transradial
amputations (who used a conventional body-powered device). We also administered a
survey to determine whether subjects preferred one prehensor or the other for
specific tasks, with a long-term goal of assessing whether a prehensor that could
switch between both modes would be advantageous. We found that using the
voluntary closing prehensor was 1.3 s faster (p = 0.02) than using the voluntary
opening prehensor, across tasks, and that there was consensus among subjects on
which types of tasks they preferred to do with each prehensor type. Twenty-five
subjects wanted a device that could switch between the two modes in order to
perform particular tasks.

Langue : ANGLAIS