ROME – “It ‘a prosthesis on display and not to hide,” sums up Christian Cipriani, professor at the Institute of biorobotics the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna of Pisa, “My-HAND” (acronym for Myoelectric-Hand prosthesis Afferent feedback with Non-invasive Delivery), the project dedicated to the development of non-invasive technologies to facilitate the recovery of sensory and motor functions of people who have suffered the amputation of a hand.
As part of This project, funded with over 400 thousand euro from the Ministry of Education, University and Research, has been fine-tuning the “bionic hand” that is in continuity with another project coordinated by Christian Cipriani and anche’esso just ended, ” WAY “, funded by the European Commission, for the seventh Framework Programme, carried out by a consortium of partners, led by the University of Tuscany. With this project, in addition to the robotic glove – the exoskeleton to restore motor control in the hands of people with problems in using this limb due to neurological damage – it was possible to develop the technology to implant the revolutionary new bionic hand without going to the operating room. Now the prosthesis is ready for clinical trials and is located in the laboratory, for the latest verification. After passing the test with patients, researchers are convinced of the fact that established companies or start-ups are able to understand and translate the results of the project “My-HAND” in commercial products, soon to be put at the disposal of amputees, to prices lower than those of a smartphone last generation. The market is potentially large: according to some estimates, every year in Europe there are more than 2000 new cases of amputation of the hand.
– The main result of My-HAND is an innovative bionic prosthesis of hand, equipped with touch sensors and characterized by a high dexterity, which allows it to fulfill all the sockets and postures needed in everyday life . The hand prosthesis, is distinguished with respect to the other for its being “light”, much in weight as in the cost, as well as for the technology and design that, just as the technology, beyond the traditional concept of hand prosthesis, starting from the connection mode with the patient who will wear the prosthesis. The hand, while translating movements in the intentions of the person who wears it and to which it returns even tactile sensations, does not require surgery to be implanted. The movements and hand grips can be activated and controlled through sensors in an almost natural (easily) wearable, which detect the nerve signals that pass through the muscles, when you perform these movements. So the intentions of the person can become the movements of the prosthesis. Touch sensors integrated on the fingers record interactions with the environment and – thanks to a system of small vibrators placed on the remaining limb – you can return tactile sensations, restoring also what researchers define the return sensory physiology. The great advantage of all these technologies, which derive from the project WAY, is the ability to be implanted without the need to switch from the operating room and to act invasive on the patient. To achieve these results, the team of the Institute of biorobotics SSSA has followed a method equally innovative. “We started – explains the coordinator Christian Cipriani – designing the exterior, the envelope that contains the technology and, in collaboration with the designers of the ‘DARC Studio’ in Rome, we have developed a prosthetic aesthetically appealing.”
Having developed the aesthetic details, engineers, led by researcher Marco Controzzi, filled with mechanisms, technology and artificial intelligence, the inside of the hand, achieving a result that combines functionality and robustness to aesthetic refinement . “The Hand – underlines Marco Controzzi – uses three electric motors and an opposable thumb to grasp objects of different shapes and different weight. Another new technology particularly relevant – he adds – consists of a mechanism invented biorobotics Institute of the Higher School Sant’Anna, the subject of international patent, which, with only one engine, allows rotation of the thumb or the decline of the index alternately. This possibility – ends – ensures the execution of all sockets without affecting the weight but ensuring high strength “. Alessio Tommasetti of DARC Studio in Rome contributed to the project My-HAND drawing the revolutionary prosthesis. “It was a very difficult task was a challenge – emphasizes the designer – but we are proud to have accepted it. We have often invaded the technical field of bioengineers with art and design, but abbiavo teamed effective in synergy we processed an extremely innovative concept. ” (SAY)
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