Design of a compact, reconfigurable, prosthetic wrist

Issue title: Assistive and Rehabilitation Robotics II

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Zinck, Arthur | Stavdahl, Øyvind | Biden, Edmund | Kyberd, Peter J.

Affiliations: Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton NB, Canada | Department of Engineering Cybernetics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology – NTNU, Trondheim, Norway

Note: [] Corresponding author: E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: The design of a prosthetic wrist is the result of compromises between the function and the practicality of the device. Conventional prosthetic wrists use a single degree of freedom to produce pro/supination of the hand. It has not been demonstrated that this is the most functional alignment for a single axis. Previous work by the authors suggests that if the wrist must have only one rotatory axis then a more oblique orientation would be more functional. To test this idea, a compact wrist with a single axis and spherical design has been made that will allow any axis of rotation to be selected and the functional performance of the resulting arm be tested.

Keywords: Prosthetic wrist, brushless commutation

DOI: 10.3233/ABB-2011-0043

Journal: Applied Bionics and Biomechanics, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 117-124, 2012