Automation of Prosthetic Upper Limbs for Transhumeral Amputees Using Switch-controlled Motors

The issues of research required in the field of bio medical engineering and externally-powered prostheses are attracting attention of regulatory bodies and the common people in various parts of the globe. Today, 90 percent of prostheses used are conventional body powered cable-controlled ones which are very uncomfortable to the amputees as fairly large amount of forces and excursions have to be generated by the amputee. Additionally, its amount of rotation is limited. Alternatively, prosthetic limbs driven using electrical motors might deliver added functionality and improved control, accompanied by better cosmesis, however,it could be bulky and costly. Presently existing proposals usually require fewer bodily response and need additional upkeep than the cable operated prosthetic limbs. Due to the motives mentioned, proposal for mechanization of body-powered prostheses, with ease of maintenance and cost in mind, is presented in this paper. The prosthetic upper limb which is being automated is for Transhumeral type of amputees that is amputated from above elbow. The study consists of two main portions: one is lifting mechanism of the limb and the other is gripping mechanism for the hand using switch controls, which is the most cost effective and optimized solution, rather than using complex and expensive myoelectric control signals.