Transradial prostheses: Current status and future directions

Abstract

Transradial prosthesis is an artificial wearable limb that provides the functionality and/or appearance of human wrist and hand. Over the recent years, both hardware and control systems for active transradial prosthesis show significant advancement. In that context, this paper reviews the modern transradial prostheses developed for performing activities of daily living. Focus is to provide an insight on the latest technologies, including mechanical designs and control algorithms developed to mimic the biological wrist and hand. The biomechanics of below-elbow of upper-limb and functional requirements such as grasping motion are initially presented. The design difficulties are discussed in the following section. Next, each of the modern transradial prosthesis are briefly reviewed based on design and/or control of fingers, wrists and body attachments. Finally, latest trends and future directions for developing transradial prostheses are explored and unveiled.