On the viability of implantable electrodes for the natural control of artificial limbs: Review and discussion
Review article, 2012

The control of robotic prostheses based on pattern recognition algorithms is a widely studied subject that has shown promising results in acute experiments. The long-term implementation of this technology, however, has not yet been achieved due to practical issues that can be mainly attributed to the use of surface electrodes and their highly environmental dependency. This paper describes several implantable electrodes and discusses them as a solution for the natural control of artificial limbs. In this context "natural" is defined as producing control over limb movement analogous to that of an intact physiological system. This includes coordinated and simultaneous movements of different degrees of freedom. It also implies that the input signals must come from nerves or muscles that were originally meant to produce the intended movement and that feedback is perceived as originating in the missing limb without requiring burdensome levels of concentration. After scrutinizing different electrode designs and their clinical implementation, we concluded that the epimysial and cuff electrodes are currently promising candidates to achieving a long-term stable and natural control of robotic prosthetics, provided that communication from the electrodes to the outside of the body is guaranteed.

Implantable Electrodes

Prosthetic Control

Artificial Limbs

Biopotential Electrodes

Electrodes

Neural Interfaces

Author

Max Jair Ortiz Catalan

Chalmers, Signals and Systems, Signal Processing and Biomedical Engineering

Rickard Brånemark

University of Gothenburg

Bo Håkansson

Chalmers, Signals and Systems, Signal Processing and Biomedical Engineering

Jean Delbeke

Universite catholique de Louvain

BioMedical Engineering Online

1475925x (eISSN)

Vol. 11 33 33

Subject Categories

Medical Engineering

DOI

10.1186/1475-925X-11-33

More information

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