Article

The DEKA Arm, a pre-commercial upper limb prosthesis, funded by the
DARPA Revolutionizing Prosthetics Program, offers increased degrees of freedom
while requiring a large number of user control inputs to operate. To address this
challenge, DEKA developed prototype foot controls. Although the concept of
utilizing foot controls to operate an upper limb prosthesis has been discussed
for decades, only small-sized studies have been performed and no commercial
product exists. The purpose of this paper is to report amputee user perspectives
on using three different iterations of foot controls to operate the DEKA Arm.
METHOD: Qualitative data was collected from 36 subjects as part of the Department
of Veterans Affairs (VA) Study to Optimize the DEKA Arm through surveys,
interviews, audio memos, and videotaped sessions. Three major, interrelated
themes were identified using the constant comparative method: attitudes towards
foot controls, psychomotor learning and physical experience of using foot
controls. RESULTS: Feedback about foot controls was generally positive for all
iterations. The final version of foot controls was viewed most favorably.
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that foot controls are a viable control option
that can enable control of a multifunction upper limb prosthesis (the DEKA Arm).
IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION: Multifunction upper limb prostheses require many
user control inputs to operate. Foot controls offer additional control input
options for such advanced devices, yet have had minimal study. This study found
that foot controls were a viable option for controlling multifunction upper limb
prostheses. Most of the 36 subjects in this study were willing to adopt foot
controls to control the multiple degrees of freedom of the DEKA Arm. With
training and practice, all users were able to develop the psychomotor skills
needed to successfully operate food controls. Some had initial difficulty, but
acclimated over time.

Langue : ANGLAIS