New Technology Gives Upper Limb Amputees Sensation of Real Hand

An estimated 100,000 upper-limb amputees, including hundreds in Michigan, can benefit from a brand new product that can duplicate the feel of a normal hand. The new hand uses myoelectric technology with microprocessors that can sense, feel, and even automatically tighten when necessary.

Muscles in a person's arm control the movements of the hand and wrist. "When a person loses their hand, the muscles that control the hand remain in the arm," explained Ken Woodward, Director of Prosthetics at Wright & Filippis. "Sensors placed in the socket of the prosthesis are lined up with the arm muscles that control the movement. The sensors feel the electrical impulses that are emitted from the muscles when they contract. By contracting those muscles, the patient is able to open and close the prosthetic hand and also rotate the wrist."

The new prosthetic hand also has sensors in the fingers that can sense weight and will automatically tighten the grip without any effort by the user.

This new innovation has produced one additional benefit -- for the first time, it is possible to fit a partial-hand amputee using state-of-the-art microprocessor muscle control hands. Before the development of this new technology, surgeons would often have to amputate at a higher level and use a longer and bigger artificial hand because that was all that was available.

Wright & Filippis is currently fitting patients with these new products.