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14th Triennial Congress of the International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand (IFSSH), 11th Triennial Congress of the International Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy (IFSHT)

17.06. - 21.06.2019, Berlin

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Innovations in man-machine interface for control and feedback of bionic prostheses

Meeting Abstract

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  • presenting/speaker Martin Aman - CD Labororatory for Extremity reconstruction, Department of Biomedical Reserach, Medical University Vienna, Wien, Austria
  • Matthias Sporer - CD-Labor für Wiederherstellung für Extremitätenfunktionen, Plastische und Rekonstruktive Chirurgie, Wien, Austria
  • Christopher Festin - CD-Labor für Wiederherstellung für Extremitätenfunktionen, Wien, Austria
  • Christian Hofer - Otto Bock Healthcare Products, Wien, Austria
  • Michael Friedrich Russold - Otto Bock Healthcare Products, Wien, Austria
  • Oskar C. Aszmann - CD Labor für Wiederherstellung von Extremitätenfunktionen, Abteilung für plastische und rekonstruktive Chirurgie, Medizinische Universität Wien, Wien, Austria

International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand. International Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy. 14th Triennial Congress of the International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand (IFSSH), 11th Triennial Congress of the International Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy (IFSHT), 11th Triennial Congress of the International Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy (IFSHT). Berlin, 17.-21.06.2019. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2020. DocIFSSH19-1908

doi: 10.3205/19ifssh0515, urn:nbn:de:0183-19ifssh05156

Published: February 6, 2020

© 2020 Aman et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. See license information at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Outline

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Objectives/Interrogation: Bionic prostheses are an essential part of modern extremity reconstruction. Hereby the remaining bottle neck and main cause of high prostheses abandonment rates is the lack of a reliable interface between man and machine. Therefore, new implantable devices, capable of intuitive and sophisticated control as well as interfaces for sensory feedback, are important fields of research.

Aim of this study was to investigate an intraneural electrode for control and feedback as well as a full implantable system for reliable control in a rat and a rabbit model.

Methods: In a rat model a longitudinal intraneural electrode was implanted into the sciatic nerve and evaluated over different time periods (4-12 weeks) for biocompatibility as well as functional aspects. Further, a full implantable system, containing electrodes for EMG based control as well as a neural electrode for creating feedback sensations was implanted in a rabbit model and analyzed for feasibility, biocompatibility, reliability as well as technical features.

Results: Intraneural electrodes showed fibrosis and encapsulation in the nerve. This nerve damage further resulted in distal muscle atrophy and loss of muscle force.

The full implantable system was successfully tested for the investigation period (8 weeks) and evaluated for biosafety as well as technical features.

Conclusions: Peripheral nerve interfaces have the capability of afferent and efferent interfacing with the human body. Nevertheless, there is always a compromise between interface selectivity and nerve damage. Fibrosis and resulting changes in impedance, as well as challenges in control with neural signals, emphasize EMG based control. With the tested EMG based fully implantable system, disadvantages of surface electrodes could be overcome to create a reliable and sophisticated prosthetic control.