Development of a durability test system for myoelectric hand prostheses

Myoelectric hand prostheses used by upper limb amputees are absolutely necessary for one's daily living, especially for double amputees. Despite recent rapid technological advancements, the domestic market for myoelectric hand prostheses still relies on expensive imported products, and the rate of use of myoelectric hand prostheses by amputees is very low, less than 1%. In order to disseminate domestic products by replacing expensive imported ones, it is necessary to develop standard test methods to certify the performance of domestic products. In this study, we report our experience in construction of a durability test system, proposed in KSP 8511: Test methods for the durability of grasping function of powered prosthetic hands, and suggest some amendments of the standard. In order to sequentially conduct the gripping force test and durability test in this test system, the prosthetic hand support had to be able to move in three directions and the proximity sensor had to be able to rotate circularly. The newly-constructed durability test system for myoelectric prosthetic hands successfully performed durability tests on a 3-fingered prosthetic hand and a 5-fingered prosthetic hand. The durability test device developed in this study will be reflected in the revision of the existing KS P 8511, and will also be proposed as a test method in ISO/TC 168.