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Schone HR, Udeozor M, Moninghoff M, Rispoli B, Vandersea J, Lock B, Hargrove L, Makin TR, Baker CI. Biomimetic versus arbitrary motor control strategies for bionic hand skill learning. Nat Hum Behav 2024; 8:1108-1123. [PMID: 38499772 PMCID: PMC11199138 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-023-01811-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2023] [Accepted: 12/21/2023] [Indexed: 03/20/2024]
Abstract
A long-standing engineering ambition has been to design anthropomorphic bionic limbs: devices that look like and are controlled in the same way as the biological body (biomimetic). The untested assumption is that biomimetic motor control enhances device embodiment, learning, generalization and automaticity. To test this, we compared biomimetic and non-biomimetic control strategies for non-disabled participants when learning to control a wearable myoelectric bionic hand operated by an eight-channel electromyography pattern-recognition system. We compared motor learning across days and behavioural tasks for two training groups: biomimetic (mimicking the desired bionic hand gesture with biological hand) and arbitrary control (mapping an unrelated biological hand gesture with the desired bionic gesture). For both trained groups, training improved bionic limb control, reduced cognitive reliance and increased embodiment over the bionic hand. Biomimetic users had more intuitive and faster control early in training. Arbitrary users matched biomimetic performance later in training. Furthermore, arbitrary users showed increased generalization to a new control strategy. Collectively, our findings suggest that biomimetic and arbitrary control strategies provide different benefits. The optimal strategy is probably not strictly biomimetic, but rather a flexible strategy within the biomimetic-to-arbitrary spectrum, depending on the user, available training opportunities and user requirements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hunter R Schone
- Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK.
- Rehab Neural Engineering Labs, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
| | - Malcolm Udeozor
- Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Mae Moninghoff
- Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Beth Rispoli
- Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - James Vandersea
- Medical Center Orthotics and Prosthetics, Silver Spring, MD, USA
| | | | - Levi Hargrove
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
- The Regenstein Foundation Center for Bionic Medicine, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Tamar R Makin
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK.
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
| | - Chris I Baker
- Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
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Clode D, Dowdall L, da Silva E, Selén K, Cowie D, Dominijanni G, Makin TR. Evaluating initial usability of a hand augmentation device across a large and diverse sample. Sci Robot 2024; 9:eadk5183. [PMID: 38809995 PMCID: PMC7616312 DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.adk5183] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2023] [Accepted: 04/26/2024] [Indexed: 05/31/2024]
Abstract
The advancement of motor augmentation and the broader domain of human-machine interaction rely on a seamless integration with users' physical and cognitive capabilities. These considerations may markedly fluctuate among individuals on the basis of their age, form, and abilities. There is a need to develop a standard for considering these diversity needs and preferences to guide technological development, and large-scale testing can provide us with evidence for such considerations. Public engagement events provide an important opportunity to build a bidirectional discourse with potential users for the codevelopment of inclusive and accessible technologies. We exhibited the Third Thumb, a hand augmentation device, at a public engagement event and tested participants from the general public, who are often not involved in such early technological development of wearable robotic technology. We focused on wearability (fit and control), ability to successfully operate the device, and ability levels across diversity factors relevant for physical technologies (gender, handedness, and age). Our inclusive design was successful in 99.3% of our diverse sample of 596 individuals tested (age range from 3 to 96 years). Ninety-eight percent of participants were further able to successfully manipulate objects using the extra thumb during the first minute of use, with no significant influences of gender, handedness, or affinity for hobbies involving the hands. Performance was generally poorer among younger children (aged ≤11 years). Although older and younger adults performed the task comparably, we identified age costs with the older adults. Our findings offer tangible demonstration of the initial usability of the Third Thumb for a broad demographic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dani Clode
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
- Dani Clode Design, Cambridge, UK
| | - Lucy Dowdall
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
| | - Edmund da Silva
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
| | - Klara Selén
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Dorothy Cowie
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, UK
| | - Giulia Dominijanni
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Neuro-X Institute, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Tamar R Makin
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
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Ivani AS, Barontini F, Catalano MG, Grioli G, Bianchi M, Bicchi A. VIBES: Vibro-Inertial Bionic Enhancement System in a Prosthetic Socket. IEEE Int Conf Rehabil Robot 2023; 2023:1-6. [PMID: 37941194 DOI: 10.1109/icorr58425.2023.10304768] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2023]
Abstract
The use of vibrotactile feedback is of growing interest in the field of prosthetics, but few devices fully integrate this technology in the prosthesis to transmit high-frequency contact information (such as surface roughness and first contact) arising from the interaction of the prosthetic device with external items. This study describes a wearable vibrotactile system for high-frequency tactile information embedded in the prosthetic socket. The device consists of two compact planar vibrotactile actuators in direct contact with the user's skin to transmit tactile cues. These stimuli are directly related to the acceleration profiles recorded with two IMUS placed on the distal phalanx of a soft under-actuated robotic prosthesis (Soft-Hand Pro). We characterized the system from a psychophysical point of view with fifteen able-bodied participants by computing participants' Just Noticeable Difference (JND) related to the discrimination of vibrotactile cues delivered on the index finger, which are associated with the exploration of different sandpapers. Moreover, we performed a pilot experiment with one SoftHand Pro prosthesis user by designing a task, i.e. Active Texture Identification, to investigate if our feedback could enhance users' roughness discrimination. Results indicate that the device can effectively convey contact and texture cues, which users can readily detect and distinguish.
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Schone HR, Udeozor M, Moninghoff M, Rispoli B, Vandersea J, Lock B, Hargrove L, Makin TR, Baker CI. Should bionic limb control mimic the human body? Impact of control strategy on bionic hand skill learning. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.02.07.525548. [PMID: 36945476 PMCID: PMC10028741 DOI: 10.1101/2023.02.07.525548] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
A longstanding engineering ambition has been to design anthropomorphic bionic limbs: devices that look like and are controlled in the same way as the biological body (biomimetic). The untested assumption is that biomimetic motor control enhances device embodiment, learning, generalization, and automaticity. To test this, we compared biomimetic and non-biomimetic control strategies for able-bodied participants when learning to operate a wearable myoelectric bionic hand. We compared motor learning across days and behavioural tasks for two training groups: Biomimetic (mimicking the desired bionic hand gesture with biological hand) and Arbitrary control (mapping an unrelated biological hand gesture with the desired bionic gesture). For both trained groups, training improved bionic limb control, reduced cognitive reliance, and increased embodiment over the bionic hand. Biomimetic users had more intuitive and faster control early in training. Arbitrary users matched biomimetic performance later in training. Further, arbitrary users showed increased generalization to a novel control strategy. Collectively, our findings suggest that biomimetic and arbitrary control strategies provide different benefits. The optimal strategy is likely not strictly biomimetic, but rather a flexible strategy within the biomimetic to arbitrary spectrum, depending on the user, available training opportunities and user requirements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hunter R. Schone
- Laboratory of Brain & Cognition, National Institutes of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
| | - Malcolm Udeozor
- Laboratory of Brain & Cognition, National Institutes of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Mae Moninghoff
- Laboratory of Brain & Cognition, National Institutes of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Beth Rispoli
- Laboratory of Brain & Cognition, National Institutes of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - James Vandersea
- Medical Center Orthotics & Prosthetics, Silver Spring, MD, USA
| | | | - Levi Hargrove
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
- The Regenstein Foundation Center for Bionic Medicine, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Tamar R Makin
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Chris I. Baker
- Laboratory of Brain & Cognition, National Institutes of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
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Abrams Z. A New Era for Bionic Limbs. IEEE Pulse 2023; 14:12-15. [PMID: 37028369 DOI: 10.1109/mpuls.2023.3243313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/15/2023]
Abstract
Despite remarkable advances in the field of prosthetic limbs, existing products still aren't meeting the needs of patients. A 2022 survey found that 44% of upper-limb amputees abandoned their prostheses, citing discomfort, heaviness of the device, and problems with functionality [1].
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Makin TR, Micera S, Miller LE. Neurocognitive and motor-control challenges for the realization of bionic augmentation. Nat Biomed Eng 2022; 7:344-348. [PMID: 36050524 PMCID: PMC9975114 DOI: 10.1038/s41551-022-00930-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Robotic fingers and arms that augment the motor abilities of non-disabled individuals are increasingly feasible yet face neurocognitive barriers and hurdles in efferent motor control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamar R Makin
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK. .,MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
| | - Silvestro Micera
- Bertarelli Foundation Chair in Translational Neural Engineering, Center for Neuroprosthetics and Institute of Bioengineering, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland. .,The BioRobotics Institute and Department of Excellence in Robotics and AI, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, Italy.
| | - Lee E Miller
- Department of Physiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA. .,Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA. .,Department of Biomedical Engineering, McCormick School of Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. .,Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, Chicago, IL, USA.
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Gurgone S, Borzelli D, De Pasquale P, Berger DJ, Lisini Baldi T, D'Aurizio N, Prattichizzo D, d'Avella A. Simultaneous control of natural and extra degrees of freedom by isometric force and electromyographic activity in the muscle-to-force null space. J Neural Eng 2022; 19. [PMID: 34983036 DOI: 10.1088/1741-2552/ac47db] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2021] [Accepted: 01/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Muscle activation patterns in the muscle-to-force null space, i.e., patterns that do not generate task-relevant forces, may provide an opportunity for motor augmentation by allowing to control additional end-effectors simultaneously to natural limbs. Here we tested the feasibility of muscular null space control for augmentation by assessing simultaneous control of natural and extra degrees of freedom. APPROACH We instructed eight participants to control translation and rotation of a virtual 3D end-effector by simultaneous generation of isometric force at the hand and null space activity extracted in real-time from the electromyographic signals recorded from 15 shoulder and arm muscles. First, we identified the null space components that each participant could control more naturally by voluntary co-contraction. Then, participants performed several blocks of a reaching and holding task. They displaced an ellipsoidal cursor to reach one of nine targets by generating force, and simultaneously rotated the cursor to match the target orientation by activating null space components. We developed an information-theoretic metric, an index of difficulty defined as the sum of a spatial and a temporal term, to assess individual null space control ability for both reaching and holding. MAIN RESULTS On average, participants could reach the targets in most trials already in the first block (72%) and they improved with practice (maximum 93%) but holding performance remained lower (maximum 43%). As there was a high inter-individual variability in performance, we performed a simulation with different spatial and temporal task conditions to estimate those for which each individual participants would have performed best. SIGNIFICANCE Muscular null space control is feasible and may be used to control additional virtual or robotics end-effectors. However, decoding of motor commands must be optimized according to individual null space control ability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sergio Gurgone
- University of Messina, Viale Ferdinando Stagno D'Alcontres 31, Messina, 98166, ITALY
| | - Daniele Borzelli
- University of Messina, Via Consolare Valeria, Messina, Messina, 98122, ITALY
| | - Paolo De Pasquale
- Scienze Biomediche, Odontoiatriche e delle Immagini Morfologiche e Funzionali, Università degli Studi di Messina, Via Consolare Valeria, 1, Messina, Messina, ME, 98124, ITALY
| | - Denise J Berger
- Laboratorio di Fisiologia Neuromotoria, Fondazione Santa Lucia, Via Ardeatina 306, Via Ardeatina 306, Roma, 00179, ITALY
| | | | - Nicole D'Aurizio
- Università degli Studi di Siena, Via Roma 56, Siena, 53100, ITALY
| | | | - Andrea d'Avella
- Scienze Biomediche, Odontoiatriche e delle Immagini Morfologiche e Funzionali, Università degli Studi di Messina, Via Consolare Valeria, 1, Messina, Messina, ME, 98124, ITALY
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