2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Pediatric externally powered prosthetic hand using miniature McKibben-type pneumatic actuators

Research Project

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Project/Area Number	18K10694
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Section	一般
Review Section	Basic Section 59010:Rehabilitation science-related
Research Institution	Osaka Institute of Technology
Principal Investigator	Taniguchi Hironari 大阪工業大学, ロボティクス&デザイン工学部, 准教授 (00508955)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	脇元修一岡山大学, 自然科学研究科, 准教授 (40452560) 森永浩介広島国際大学, 総合リハビリテーション学部, 助教 (40734760)
Project Period (FY)	2018-04-01 – 2021-03-31
Keywords	動力義手 / ソフトアクチュエータ / ソフトロボティクス / 空気圧人工筋肉 / 小児
Outline of Final Research Achievements	In this study, we have developed a forearm power prosthesis for children and have evaluated the mechanical basic performance of the power prosthesis. A small McKibben type pneumatic artificial muscle was used as an actuator, and the forearm power prosthesis has high safety and practicability in daily life. The operability and durability of the forearm power prosthesis were synthetically evaluated in daily life by the heavy user of conventional child power prosthesis. In the test, the user succeeded in grasping several objects such as a stuffed animal, stacking blocks, and pulling out tissue paper. In addition, the user stated that the power prosthesis was easy to operate in terms of quick movements. Therefore, we verified the usefulness of the proposed artificial arm and the basis technologies for the practical application were constructed.
Free Research Field	ソフトロボティクス
Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements	本研究では，先天的あるいは後天的に上肢に欠損を抱える小児の日常生活の補助を目的とした，空気圧人工筋を用いた小児用動力義手を開発した．本研究成果は，ソフトロボティクスに関連する要素技術開発および応用であり，これらの分野における学術的意義は非常に高いと考えられる．また，開発した義手は，従来の筋電義手と比べて非常に動作速度が早く，使いやすいことが明らかとなった．被験者が使用している外国製の筋電義手では，把持に失敗し，把持をやり直すなど，繰り返し指の開閉動作をする際にストレスを感じると被験者は述べており，本義手は新たな義手としての可能性を示した．このことから，社会的意義も高いと考えられる．