A Gear-Driven Prosthetic Hand with Major Grasp Functions for Toddlers

This paper presents a gear-driven prosthetic hand designed for toddlers with transradial amputation. The hand design considers three main issues: weight, cost, and operability. The prosthetic hand and the cosmetic silicon glove are made based on the dimensions of a real hand. The simple, stable, and reliable gear-driven transmission helps to reduce the weight and the cost. A small actuator is embedded in the palm. During the grasp, the four fingers and the thumb flexes and extends as a unit to provide a wide range of holding area. The kinematics and static analysis in grasping was performed and the simulation results were compared with measured data. The motion performance and practical operability of the proposed hand was verified experimentally by a test system and a transradial subject.