Journal of Biomimetics, Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering Vol. 69

Abstract: Upper limb prosthesis have been evolving since 1967, progressing from mechanical prosthesis to robotic prosthesis, integrating electronics with emerging materials. This work aims to develop a low-cost integrated active upper limb prosthesis using additive manufacturing, controlled by the user with a myoelectric sensor to perform three hand gestures: power grip, two-fingered cup movement, and gripper actions. The prosthesis is based on the reduction of degrees of freedom, the analysis of five additive manufacturing materials, and the implementation of a neural network to control the gestures performed by the prosthesis. The precision obtained in the best model saved by the neural network was 91.25% and a recall of 90.75%. A key contribution of this work is the integration of soft 3D printing materials, which enhance object grasping by conforming to various shapes. In this case, grasping was achieved using a driven cable and a flex sensor in three gestures with different objects.