PROLIMB could introduce ‘game-changing’ upper limb prosthesis

The project, named ‘A sensorimotor PROsthesis for the upper LIMB (PROLIMB)’, is a collaboration with University College London (UCL) and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW). 

Funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), PROLIMB will be led by principal investigator Prof. Michael Chappell with co-investigator Dr Neil Evans from Warwick’s School of Engineering. It aims to combine mathematical modelling and motion capture capabilities with practical aspects of digit design through body-powered motion and haptic sensing, drawing on expertise from UCL’s Soft Haptics and Robotics Lab. 

Chappell told The Engineer that EPSRC funding supported a PhD student who had been looking at grasp taxonomies for the hand, and how common grasps have changed based upon current usage today.

"There’s a lot more usage of tablets, keyboards and phones which means that common hand grasps have changed dramatically over the years," he said.

Through the use of mathematical modelling to derive finer scale models of hand motion, the team hopes to pave the way for the design of future prostheses.