Graded levels of foot control for below elbow prosthesis

Summary form only given. Multifunctional below elbow prosthesis have not been accepted by the user due to limitations in graded control actuating mechanisms. Previously pneumatic and electric switches have been tried which offered a fixed number of control levels. A number of graded levels of control have been achieved by EMG control but its use is restricted because of the variabilities in physiological, psychological as well as technical factors Earlier an approach, in that, similarity between the dexterity of the foot and hands was suitably employed to accomplish graded prosthetic arm control. This system overcomes some of the constraints of the other systems. The ultimate goal of this study is to obtain proportional control for wrist rotation, gripping action and also aims to compare performance of the artificial arm controled by the foot movement with that of the EMG. In this study three types of transducers :a) strain gauge transducer; b) carbon powder filled latex rubber tubing (CRT); c) Linear potentiometric (LP) transducer were used. The results showed that with foot movement one can achieve more graded levels of control compare with that of EMG.