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Much improved children's hand prosthesis

March 26, 2002

Much improved children's hand prosthesis

Delft Researcher Ir. Dick Pletterburg will receive his PhD today, Tuesday 26 March, for his design of a much-improved prosthetic hand for children. Plettenburg is part of the Man-Machine Systems section at Delft University of Technology. "Many existing prostheses are driven by electric motors," says Plettenburg. "These prostheses are heavy, the speed of movement is slow and the electronics are very sensitive. Many factors that, especially in the case of children, can lead to problems." Plettenburg developed a pneumatic prosthesis.

Besides the accidents causing children to loose their hands, children all over the world are born without hands. Although it is not a very large number, this is of course a great problem for the children in question. Plettenburg: "A hand prosthesis offers a solution, but then it should be meet the needs and wishes of the children. This is often lacking in current prosthesis design."

According to Plettenburg's research, using pneumatic power in prostheses is a good way to avoid some of the problems. Plettenburg: "A pneumatic motor is light, reliable and small." To keep gas use to a minimum, the prosthesis works in two phases: gripping and squeezing. As soon as the thumb of the hand touches an object, the mechanism is automatically switched to squeeze-mode. By using a clever combination of springs and gas-pressure, the prosthesis can be easily controlled.

It was necessary for Plettenburg to develop many parts for the new prosthesis himself. Standard parts were often too large and heavy. "This did make for a very interesting research subject," says Plettenburg, "we kept reaching the limits of current mechanical engineering."
For future testing of his ideas, Plettenburg developed a clinical evaluation model. Plettenburg: "Clinical testing is the next phase of research that I'm very interested in."

Delft University of Technology

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