Adding vibrotactile feedback to a myoelectric-controlled hand improves performance when online visual feedback is disturbed.

We investigated whether adding vibrotactile feedback to a myoelectric-controlled hand, when visual feedback is disturbed, can improve performance during a functional test. For this purpose, able-bodied subjects, activating a myoelectric-controlled hand attached to their right hand performed the modified Box & Blocks test, grasping and manipulating wooden blocks over a partition. This was performed in 3 conditions, using a repeated-measures design: in full light, in a dark room where visual feedback was disturbed and no auditory feedback - one time with the addition of tactile feedback provided during object grasping and manipulation, and one time without any tactile feedback. The average time needed to transfer one block was measured, and an infrared camera was used to give information on the number of grasping errors during performance of the test. Our results show that when vibrotactile feedback was provided, performance time was reduced significantly, compared with when no vibrotactile feedback was available. Furthermore, the accuracy of grasping and manipulation was improved, reflected by significantly fewer errors during test performance. In conclusion, adding vibrotactile feedback to a myoelectric-controlled hand has positive effects on functional performance when visual feedback is disturbed. This may have applications to current myoelectric-controlled hands, as adding tactile feedback may help prosthesis users to improve their functional ability during daily life activities in different environments, particularly when limited visual feedback is available or desirable.

[1]  Miles C. Bowman,et al.  Control strategies in object manipulation tasks , 2006, Current Opinion in Neurobiology.

[2]  M. Rowe,et al.  Vibrotactile frequency discrimination in human hairy skin. , 2006, Journal of neurophysiology.

[3]  AmendJohn,et al.  Prosthetic Jamming Terminal Device: A Case Study of Untethered Soft Robotics. , 2016 .

[4]  Peter H Veltink,et al.  Vibrotactile grasping force and hand aperture feedback for myoelectric forearm prosthesis users , 2015, Prosthetics and orthotics international.

[5]  Eli Brenner,et al.  Consistent haptic feedback is required but it is not enough for natural reaching to virtual cylinders. , 2008, Human movement science.

[6]  I. Carlsson,et al.  Forearm amputees' views of prosthesis use and sensory feedback. , 2015, Journal of hand therapy : official journal of the American Society of Hand Therapists.

[7]  C. Cao,et al.  Role of Haptic Feedback and Cognitive Load in Surgical Skill Acquisition , 2007 .

[8]  S. Vijayakumar,et al.  The role of feed-forward and feedback processes for closed-loop prosthesis control , 2011, Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation.

[9]  Hassan Saeedi,et al.  Sensory feedback add-on for upper-limb prostheses , 2017, Prosthetics and orthotics international.

[10]  Cara E. Stepp,et al.  Vibrotactile feedback aids EMG control of object manipulation , 2011, 2011 Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.

[11]  G. Wood,et al.  Examining the Spatiotemporal Disruption to Gaze When Using a Myoelectric Prosthetic Hand , 2018, Journal of motor behavior.

[12]  Luca Citi,et al.  Restoring Natural Sensory Feedback in Real-Time Bidirectional Hand Prostheses , 2014, Science Translational Medicine.

[13]  Marek Wartenberg,et al.  Prosthetic Jamming Terminal Device: A Case Study of Untethered Soft Robotics. , 2016, Soft robotics.

[14]  O. Stavdahl,et al.  Control of Upper Limb Prostheses: Terminology and Proportional Myoelectric Control—A Review , 2012, IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering.

[15]  A. Goate,et al.  Evaluation of Gene-Based Family-Based Methods to Detect Novel Genes Associated With Familial Late Onset Alzheimer Disease , 2018, bioRxiv.

[16]  Laurence Kenney,et al.  Visualisation of upper limb activity using spirals: A new approach to the assessment of daily prosthesis usage , 2018, Prosthetics and orthotics international.

[17]  Hanneke Bouwsema,et al.  Determining skill level in myoelectric prosthesis use with multiple outcome measures. , 2012, Journal of rehabilitation research and development.

[18]  Peter H Veltink,et al.  Hand-opening feedback for myoelectric forearm prostheses: performance in virtual grasping tasks influenced by different levels of distraction. , 2012, Journal of rehabilitation research and development.

[19]  Christian Antfolk,et al.  Sensory feedback in upper limb prosthetics , 2013, Expert review of medical devices.

[20]  D. Nowak,et al.  Preserved and Impaired Aspects of Feed-Forward Grip Force Control After Chronic Somatosensory Deafferentation , 2008, Neurorehabilitation and neural repair.

[21]  Jacqueline S. Hebert,et al.  Case report of modified Box and Blocks test with motion capture to measure prosthetic function. , 2012, Journal of rehabilitation research and development.

[22]  Albert H Vette,et al.  Normative data for modified Box and Blocks test measuring upper-limb function via motion capture. , 2014, Journal of rehabilitation research and development.

[23]  Craig Sherstan,et al.  Application of real-time machine learning to myoelectric prosthesis control: A case series in adaptive switching , 2016, Prosthetics and orthotics international.

[24]  Geoffrey P Bingham,et al.  The dynamics of sensorimotor calibration in reaching-to-grasp movements. , 2013, Journal of neurophysiology.

[25]  Marcia Kilchenman O'Malley,et al.  Tactile Feedback of Object Slip Facilitates Virtual Object Manipulation , 2015, IEEE Transactions on Haptics.

[26]  Christian Cipriani,et al.  Humans can integrate feedback of discrete events in their sensorimotor control of a robotic hand , 2014, Experimental Brain Research.

[27]  Christian Cipriani,et al.  Non-Invasive, Temporally Discrete Feedback of Object Contact and Release Improves Grasp Control of Closed-Loop Myoelectric Transradial Prostheses , 2016, IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering.

[28]  R. Johansson,et al.  Predictive mechanisms and object representations used in object manipulation , 2009 .

[29]  Dario Farina,et al.  Reflections on the present and future of upper limb prostheses , 2016, Expert review of medical devices.

[30]  Loredana Zollo,et al.  Literature Review on Needs of Upper Limb Prosthesis Users , 2016, Front. Neurosci..

[31]  Jamie I. D. Campbell,et al.  MorePower 6.0 for ANOVA with relational confidence intervals and Bayesian analysis , 2012, Behavior research methods.

[32]  Jason Friedman,et al.  Visuomotor behaviors and performance in a dual-task paradigm with and without vibrotactile feedback when using a myoelectric controlled hand , 2018, Assistive technology : the official journal of RESNA.

[33]  D. Nowak,et al.  Sensorimotor Control of Grasping: Physiology and Pathophysiology , 2009 .