A Wearable Monitoring System and Multiindex Fusion Approach for Adaptability Assessment of Prosthetic Hands

Prosthetic hands hold significant potential in aiding amputees to regain their manipulative abilities, instill confidence, and improve their quality of life. Nonetheless, the lack of compatibility between prosthetic devices and residual limbs could lead to secondary injuries, such as skin pressure ulcers caused by prolonged high-pressure states and restricted upper limb movements while using. These issues contribute to a high device abandonment rate among individuals with disabilities. In this study, a wearable monitoring system was initially designed and presented. Subsequently, multiindicators comprising motion deviation (eta q), pressure distribution (eta p), and proximity to pain pressure (eta((P) over bar)) were proposed, which were correspondingly derived from clinical criteria, pressure, and motion information. Then, a comprehensive assessment approach was proposed to evaluate the adaptability of prosthetic hands. Moreover, the proposed adaptability assessment approach based on the wearable monitoring system underwent testing on seven forearm amputees conducted under three loading conditions. The results were compared with a standard clinical scale, demonstrating a favorable evaluation performance (RMSE = 3.30, R-2 = 0.6019). This research work enables quantitative adaptability evaluation of prosthetic hands and has the potential to aid in the optimization of prosthetic design.