IIT

Prosthetic Finger

Anthropomorphic prosthetic finger with actuation and elastic return by cable with adjustable pre-tensioning. Possibility of under-implementation with preservation of the adaptability and differentiality of closure.

Patent Status

PENDING

Priority Number

IT201800003961A

Priority Date

09/05/2018

License

INTERNATIONAL

Market

The advanced prosthetics was valued as $1.42 billion in FY 2018 and is forecasted to grow with a CAGR of 10.31% in the period of 2019-2024 and is estimated to be valued $2.55 billion in FY 2024.

Problem

The problem consists in the creation of prosthetic fingers capable of generating a grip of objects as natural as possible and close to the behavior of human fingers. The main need is therefore that of designing a finger adaptable to the object with which it comes into contact, and characterized by a certain number of degrees of freedom, which guarantees a wide range of movement both in the implemented phases and in those of passive movement. A further problem is the possibility to easily choose and vary the trajectories and closing sequences of the finger, in order to choose how the finger will close and with what grasping speed / grasping. Another problem is the reliability of the finger system, able to withstand the opening and closing cycles for the entire life of the device in the hands of the user.

Additional but necessary features are the overall robustness of parts and mechanism, lightness and the possibility of aesthetic customization of the parts.

The existing under-implemented prosthetic fingers, currently on the market, involve the use of mechanisms constructed by means of rigid rods hinged together, incorporated into the body of the phalanges. With the use of this type of mechanism, both the flexion of the phalanges and the extension of the same are implemented by means of leverage. This is positive for the duration of the mechanism but limits the adaptability of the device when gripping objects (highly disabling feature).

Current Technology Limits

Current existing solutions typically present different critical issues such as:
Typically only one degree of freedom (dof) is implemented for each finger, drastically limiting the overall movement to a very different grip than that of the human hand. The only solutions which have a movement comprising more than one dof per finger typically couple the overall movement by means of rigid levers. The resulting movement in this case turns out to be again different from the real hand which moves the individual phalanges independently
Poor strength due to the presence of rigid levers
Difficult to maintain
Anthropometric proportions not respected (especially in solutions that foresee more than one dof

Killer Application

The current invention is intended for a prosthetic type application. It can find application in the field of humanoid robotics

Our Technology and Solution

Prosthetic finger for an upper limb prosthesis solution in which at least one hand and / or partial hand prosthesis is provided.

Prosthetic finger with an anthropomorphic shape, designed with two transmission cables: the first to operate and close the finger, and the second to allow its extension, once the drive cable stops to apply its torque to the two joints. The first cable can be connected to an electric motor, placed inside a prosthetic hand, while the second cable is connected to an internal elastic component, such as a spring. This type of actuation allows the adaptive movement of the two joints, and consequently of the entire finger.

Advantages

Closure adaptability combined with the possibility of under-implementation in a complete hand system
Variability / sequentiality of closure of the phalanges and combination of trajectories
Independence of passive springback
Springback adjustment
Long-term reliability
System modularity
Problem of anthropometric dimensions solved
Mechanical performance issue resolved
Strongly emphasized lightness
High energy density elastic recall in reduced dimensions
Simplicity of the system
Low economic impact.

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Team

Paolo Rossi

Mechanical engineer working as a technician in the Hannes team, in the Rehab Technologies Lab

Paolo Rossi is a mechanical engineer working as a technician in the Hannes team and he is responsible for assembling, repairing and adjustments of the prototypes of prosthetic hand, elbow and shoulder developed in the Rehab Technologies Lab. He graduated in Mechanical Engineering in 2009 at the University of Genoa, focusing his studies on the design of wind turbines. He acquired significant experience in the general maintenance of industrial facilities and machinery, before arriving in the Rehab Lab in 2017 as a technician, with the aim of assembling and supporting the mechanical improvements of the prostheses and exoskeletons' prototypes of the lab.

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Lorenzo De Michieli

Head of the Rehab Technology Lab at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), an Innovation Lab co-funded by INAIL

Lorenzo De Michieli is the Head of the Rehab Technology Lab at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), an Innovation Lab co-funded by INAIL to develop new prostheses, exoskeletons and rehabilitation devices of high market potential in the healthcare sector.He received a M.S. in Physics in 1999, and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering (Humanoid Robotics) from the University of Genoa, Italy. He also accomplished an extensive training on innovation management both in Italy at Jacobacci & Partners (Turin, IT) and abroad at the European Patent Office (The Hague, NL) and the Bergen Teknologioverføring (Bergen, N). From 2014 to 2019 he was contract Professor at the University of Genoa - Faculty of Economics - in Collaborative Innovation and Technology Transfer. He is currently Board member of Movendo Technology, one of the most promising biomedical companies in Italy.

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Nicolò Boccardo

Senior Mechatronic Engineer and Team Leader for the Hannes prosthetic System at the Rehab Technologies Lab.

His expertise lies in the development of novel mechatronic systems in the robotics and prosthetic field. He received his Master’s Degree in Robotics Engineering at Polytechnic School of Engineering of Genoa in 2013 with thesis developed at CERN concerning the position control of the collimation system for the particle beam of the LHC. After a brief experience in the transportation industry at Bombardier, he was involved in the development of the Hannes prosthetic System at the Italian Institute of Technology form 2014. Since then, he is actively involved into product development activities for technology transfer. Currently, he is the Team Leader of the upper limb prosthetic systems at the Rehab Technologies Lab, with main focus on hi-tech medical devices.

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Samuel Stedman

Mechanical Engineer working for the Hannes group at Rehab Technologies Lab

He specializes in the design and simulation of robotic and mechatronic devices, however he also has strong interests in the field of product design and product development. He received his Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and German at the University of Sheffield in 2015, whilst also studying for a year at TU Dresden. He worked for several years in the field of product management at BMW, before deciding to pursue his interest in robotics at IIT. Since joining in 2018 he has been responsible for the mechanical design, manufacture and testing of a 6 degree of freedom robotic arm and hand system for amputees. He is currently involved in several research and development activities at the Rehab Technologies Lab, focusing mainly on the development of mechanical systems for robotic prostheses and exoskeletons. In his spare time he regularly works on interesting and novel product ideas at the local Fablab, in addition to supporting a Red Crescent project that distributes 3D printed hand prostheses Syria.

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Michele Canepa

Senior Technician and Electronics Team Leader of the Rehab Technologies Lab.

His expertise lies in developing electrical and electronics system for medical robots. He received his master’s degree in Electrical Engineering at University of Genoa in 2014. After a brief experience in developing embedded measurements devices for a consulting firm, he joined the Rehab Technologies Lab as a Junior Technician, developing electronics and firmware for the first release of the Hannes prosthetic hand and the electronics for Twin, a lower-limb exoskeleton. In 2017 he joined the Rehab Technologies spin-off company, Movendo Technology, as Lead Electrical Engineer in R&D area: he oversaw various R&D, Industrialization and cost-reduction projects on the award-winning rehabilitation machine Hunova. He is currently involved in research development activities at the Rehab Technologies Lab, focusing on the development of electronics systems for robotic prostheses and orthoses.

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Andrea Marinelli

PhD student of research and development activities of iHannes project at the Rehab Technologies Lab

Andrea Marinelli is Biomedical PhD student of the iHannes project at Rehab Technologies Lab and of the DIBRIS department at the University of Genova. His expertise lies in the development of software and firmware architecture in the prosthetic field and Human-machine interfaces to translate human intention into prosthetic action. He received his Bachelor's Degree in Biomedical Engineering at Università Politecnica delle Marche in 2016 and a Master’s Degree in Neuroengineering at the University of Genova in 2019. After a brief experience as a research fellow in the robotics field at the Italian Institute of Technology, in 2019, he is a PhD student at the same institute from 2020. Since then, he is actively involved into the iHannes project to develop upper limb prosthetics high-tech. During his Master's thesis and currently PhD, he spent 4 years developing Pattern Recognition control strategies to translate muscle contraction into prosthetic movements. Currently, he is the PhD student of research and development activities of iHannes project at the Rehab Technologies Lab, with focus on closed-loop control strategies on prosthetic hand to provide proprioceptive sensations on users.

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Lorenzo Lombardi

Junior Electronics Engineer at Rehabilitation Technology Department

Electronics Engineer from Italy.In 2012 he joined Imperial College of London where he obtained his Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering with Electronics. In 2017, he joined the Rehabilitation Technology Department at the Italian Institute of Technology as a Junior Electronics Engineer. Here he is responsible for the development of the electronics and firmware of the prosthetic upper-limb system Hannes. The application focuses on sensors (EMGs and IMUs), battery management and motor control. He is also involved in the validation of the robotic devices developed within the department and clinical trials with patients.

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