DESC:Technical Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the field of bionic hands, more particularly the invention relates in developing a bionic hand with adaptive grip patterns that takes the EMG signals as input and communicates with mobile application over Bluetooth. The communication between mobile application and device is bi-directional.

Background of the Invention

Bionic arm is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, they are universal and can be installed on either left or right forearm stump. When someone loses a limb due to injury or disease, the rich functionality once offered by that limb is lost as well. Upper extremity amputations are typically divided into 2 groups: (1) below-the-elbow and (2) above-the-elbow amputations. Below-the-elbow procedures encompass trans carpal amputations, wrist disarticulations, and forearm amputations. Amputations impact not only patient’s emotional quality of life but also their functionality in everyday life. To overcome this, prosthetics have made amazing advances in recent years and are slowly changing people’s attitudes to disability. As time has passed and technology has advanced, like our mobile phones, prostheses have become lighter, faster and more efficient.

For most of history, prosthetics have been designed to make life more comfortable for adults, to afford the wearer some limited movement, and to avoid drawing attention to their disability. It is only recently, as advances in robotics and computing power have been incorporated into artificial limbs, that function has become paramount, and the needs of active disabled people, especially children, have begun to influence design.

Prostheses are often rejected when people do not experience many challenges in daily-life activities, have lower levels of amputation, are unsatisfied with certain features of the prostheses like sweating, cosmesis, or interface discomfort and are unsatisfied with all healthcare areas (i.e., fitting, follow-up, repair, training, and information provision). Abnormal truncal movements that usually accompany the performance of activities in prosthetic users may also determine the rejection of prostheses. Mostly the prostheses are rejected because of disappointment with the limited benefits of prostheses, insufficient involvement in the treatment, and disappointment regarding socio-emotional guidance.

As technology got advanced, there are many improvements implemented in designing and developing bionic arms. There are many prior art patents that differ from one another especially in model, components, functionality and in operation. In GB 2572945A and US 2015/0216680A1 disclose a prosthetic arm where actuators and rotor motor are arranged in the palm of the hand which helps in moment of the fingers. In US 10583017B2 and CN 203107338 disclose a bionic hand system where actuators are mounted to the mechanical finger to rotate about its rotational axis to extend or flexes the finger and a motor driving device conducts to control the actions of the bionic hand.

The above-mentioned solutions disclose the moments of the fingers by different principles and components. The drawback is that there is no particular monitoring system of the components to monitor the functioning status of the components which plays a major role in serviceability aspect where detecting/monitoring the components will help in identifying the exact issue and providing required support to the user in time.

In US 2015/0216680A1 disclose a prosthetic device that disclose an elbow for a prosthetic limb that comprise a position sensor to indicate normal movement of the elbow component. In WO 2010/018358 disclose a prosthetic hand with a position sensor that senses the position of the thumb.

The above-mentioned solutions disclose the motion of the prosthetic arm by sensing the position and motion of the fingers. The drawback is that there is no particular device or system to monitor the temperature of the internal components which plays a major role in protecting the damage of internal components, provides long durability of the device and protects from failure of the control system.

Most of the patents disclose a micro controller PCB present inside the palm part of the bionic hand that reads the input signals coming from user through EMG sensors and will convert them into useful grip patterns based on the input signal that user has given. The grip execution depends on the thumb position. For example, if user wants to hold objects like eraser and keys, this is not possible if thumb is in first locking position or third locking position. Similarly, if user wants to hold objects like visiting card, credit card and knife, this is not possible if thumb is in first locking position or second locking position. Hence, there is a need to track the thumb position for which the present invention proposes the use of a color sensor to track the thumb finger position.

The prior art U.S Patent No: 2008/O 188952 discloses the prosthetic or artificial hand with several pre-position able joints. Pre-position able joints include a multi-axial thumb joint, a metacarpal-phalangeal joint and a wrist joint. The prosthetic hand also includes a number of pre-position able phalanges or fingers having a segmented construction, which allows them to be placed in various positions. The multi-axis thumb joint includes an attachment member with a U-bolt that interconnects a thumb member to a palm plate. The thumb may move along the attachment member to achieve neutral and pronated positions. Additionally, the thumb may move around the attachment member to achieve open and closed positions. The thumb joint additionally includes a thumb spring, which applies a tensile force to a fabric cord, which is, in turn, interconnected to the thumb.

Another patent, U.S Patent No: 2017/0049583 disclose a prosthetic hand device with a hand frame having a differential mechanism connected to an actuable index finger unit, at least one actuable secondary finger unit and an actuable thumb unit. The actuable thumb unit includes a plurality of lockable positions, wherein each lockable position corresponds to a different grasping configuration of the prosthetic hand. The differential mechanism of actuating the thumb uses a bar and pin joints for attaining thumb movements.

Other patent U.S Patent No: 2020/0054464 uses a type of body-powered terminal mechanisms with a prosthetic digit, an engagement portion and a stopping portion. The prosthetic digit enables the individual fingers to lock in different positions with respect to the force applied on the device. Also, a typical prosthetic device uses actuators for the individual finger movement.
In addition to these many prior art patents GB2572945A and WO2019139866A1 discloses a bionic hand with thumb finger that is controlled by linear actuator. But these patents lack in disclosing position adjustable feature and feedback system for thumb finger.

The other patent US 2013/0046395 A1 discloses a motor driven thumb member consisting of plurality of gear arrangements in which the position determining apparatus comprise a rotary potentiometer or an encoder. It also comprises a plurality of switches with each switch being operative when thumb member is at different position. By using plurality of gears and switches the thumb member consumes lot of space, increases cost of manufacturing and these kinds of systems may not suit for building smaller bionic hands for kids and women.

This system determines the position of thumb using plurality of switches and rotary potentiometer whose life reduces after few thousands of cycles which will result in an error in position determination and ultimately leads to malfunctioning of the bionic hand. Additionally, the position determining apparatus is in physical contact with the rotation mechanism which leads to failure of components and generates error in the system. Hence, there is a need to build a contactless position feedback system that is accurate, compact in size and maintenance free. Along with this, there is a need to develop a user adjustable thumb swiveling system with position feedback.

All the above references focus on achieving the effective grasping motion to the prosthetic devices using various mechanisms but none of them employ contactless position feedback system and a separate thumb swiveling system with a micro controller to achieve selected locking positions of the thumb as in the present invention.

There are many prosthetic wrist units for bionic arms. The prior art U.S Patent No: 7048768, entitled: Multi-Function Body Powered Prosthetic Wrist Unit and Method discloses a wrist unit that is attachable at the end of the prosthetics on an arm and provides over 270° of smooth pronation and supination rotation with a plurality of indexed rotation locking positions, wrist flexion and extension from 0 to 50° with three locking positions.

The other Prior art U.S Patent No. 8795387, entitled: Prosthetic Wrist discloses A prosthetic wrist for attaching between an arm prosthesis and a prosthetic accessory includes proximal section, a central section pivotally attached to the proximal section with a first joint, and a distal section pivotally attached to the central section with a second joint. The second joint includes a second pivot axis that is substantially orthogonal to and non-intersecting with the first pivot axis. There are locking pins allowing the pivot arm to rotate about the pivot pin and allows the user to fix at an angle along a first and second axis. However, in this device there is no disclosure of rotatable wrist with multiple locking positions. Moreover, the invention employs heavy components and an expensive manufacturing process for the locking the positions.

The other prior art is U.S. 7914587, entitled: Wrist Device for Use with a Prosthetic Limb includes a base plane that is configured for attachment to a prosthetic limb. A cross piece, having first and 20 second axes, can be coupled to the base plate. A prosthetic attachment can be coupled to the cross piece. The cross piece can enable a user to simultaneously flex the prosthetic attachment in two different axes. This mechanism allows the user to lock in one or more positions with several components incorporated in it. However, the major criteria is to reduce the size of the device by using limited components and achieve multiple locking positions.

However, by considering the current available prosthetic wrist devices the length and weight of prosthetic wrist will have major impact in case of wrist disarticulation amputees, where overall length of the bionic arm depends on length of the wrist that connects palm and forearm socket. For example, a person having amputation for one hand cannot imagine a bionic hand longer than his normal hand. Existing wrists devices are too large and includes many components as a result they are heavy, long and does not appeal to many amputees such as children and women. Therefore, the weight of the prosthetic wrist adds up to overall weight of palm and the wrist combination and user feels it difficult to rotate in multiple positions. These things limit usefulness of the prosthesis. Therefore, to overcome the aforementioned limitations there is need to develop an improved wrist device that can rotate the prosthetic hand in multiple locking positions. Another need is that the improved prosthetic wrist device should be light in weight, compact in size, easy to manufacture, easy to operate, smooth in operation and user friendly.

There are many prosthetic arms, the prior art U.S Patent Application Number 20150351939 A1 titled system for control of prosthetic device includes a control system for controlling of a prosthetic device having plurality of actuators receives an orientation signal indicative of a desired movement. The control system evaluates whether the prosthetic device may move as desired with a current angle of rotation and commands at least one actuator to move the prosthetic device as desired by maintaining the current angle of rotation or by adjusting the angle of rotation if the prosthetic device cannot move as desired with the current angle.

The other prior art U.S Patent Application number 20190209345 A1titled prosthetic arm with adaptive grip disclose an upper extremity prosthesis may include a prosthetic hand including a prosthetic thumb having a base and a tip, and a prosthetic index finger having a base and a tip. Actuators may be coupled to the upper extremity prosthesis.

The other prior art C.N Patent Application number 203107338 U titled intelligent bionic hand disclose a bionic hand that comprise a myoelectricity signal detection sensor used for sending the detected signals to the myoelectricity signal receiving module, the myoelectricity signal receiving module judges whether bending actions or extending actions are conducted.

Another prior art G.B Patent Application number 2572945 A discloses improvements in prosthetic arms that include EMG sensor assembly embedded in the socket that has cutouts so that the assembly can be pushed through from the outside to achieve fitment against the skin at the desired location.

All the above references focus on achieving the effective grasping motion to the prosthetic devices using various mechanisms but none of them employ a system reduce power consumption of overall prosthetic hand when EMG electrodes are not in use. As most or all the prosthetic or bionic hands are battery powered, power back up is the main concern to be looked into. Reducing power consumption of the one or more parts of the prosthetic or bionic hand can greatly increase the battery backup of the prosthetic or bionic hand which is desirable.

In designing and developing a bionic hand there invloves various electronic and mechanical components that have definitive service life. The prior art G.B. Patent Application number 2572945 A disclose an improvement in prosthetic arms that includes many components in developing a grip position in holding several objects. The other prior art US 2015/0216680 A1 disclose a prosthesis designed with components which help in adapting the hand in one or more positions.

All the above references focus on achieving the effective grasping motion and positions to the prosthetic devices using various mechanisms and components but none of them focuses on performing or checking the grip accuracy and wearing of the materials inside the device which impacts the grip functionality and performance that impacts the users in holding the objects in several griping positions.

Along with these, the developed sophisticated hands can perform with more dexterity but are also limited in many ways. These five-fingered robotic hands tend to feature complex electro-mechanical assemblies and as such tend to be expensive and are non-customizable and frequently incorporate motors or other electrical systems within the hand itself resulting in a stiff monolithic palm which is not scalable and not lifelike.

Henceforth, an aesthetically appealing, EMG-powered, five-fingered, prosthetic hand, would fulfill a long-felt need in the prosthetic device industry. Similarly, a scalable prosthetic hand that resembles a human hand would allow for a greater visual and emotional acceptance.

In view of the limitations described above, there is a need for a fully functional bionic arm that replaces an arm and having increased degrees of freedom that enables the prosthetic hand to operate in a realistic manner with efficient and multiple gripping positions. Hence, there exists a need to develop a fully functional bionic arm with independent mechanisms and can be integrated with a mobile application to provide better user experience.

Brief Summary of the Invention

The present invention relates to the field of bionic arms. More specifically the present invention is directed to a fully functional bionic arm.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to develop a fully functional bionic arm that includes an improved wrist device which can move and lock in seven different positions and a thumb finger swiveling system with position feedback.

It is an object of the present invention to develop a mobile application that is integrated with the bionic arm that monitors the device health, battery status, over the Air firmware upgrade, perform grip accuracy test, training tutorials and complaint tracking for the users.

It is an object of the present invention to build a mobile application that communicates with the server to send the device data.

It is an object of the present invention to include EMG sensors that captures EMG signals from user’s muscles and these signals are amplified and processed by EMG sensor to provide meaningful signal to control system present inside the palm.

It is an object of the present invention to include EMG sensors with Leads OFF detection to mitigate the risk of device malfunctioning due to wrong interpretation of EMG signal.

Another object of the present invention is to include EMG sensors with Enable input pin to reduce power consumption of overall prosthetic hand when EMG electrode is not in use.

Another object of the present invention is to provide user adjustable grip patterns that enables the user to grasp objects of various shapes and sizes.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the invention includes a fully functional bionic arm. The device comprises five fingers with proximal part and distal part that close and open for holding or gripping the objects, each finger is equipped with a string to generate pull/push moment to the fingers, a plurality of linear actuators with self-locking ability that pull and push the string, a user adjustable thumb finger swiveling system enabled with position feedback, a palm base that houses electronic circuitry and said linear actuators and a rotatable wrist that provides seven locking positions and gets engaged with palm base coaxially.

In accordance with the aspect of the present invention, the bionic arm comprises a multi-functional switch module to accept input from user and to show intuitive notifications to user, a microcontroller PCB with on board Bluetooth SoC connectivity is housed inside the palm to open and close the said fingers, a power on/off switch, a removable battery, a detachable forearm top panel and bottom panel fixed to the forearm socket using magnets and a plurality of EMG sensors with leads OFF detection and enable pin to reduce overall power consumption.

In accordance with the aspect of the present invention, wherein five fingers comprise a distal part and proximal part. Distal part of all the fingers has provision to fix the gripping pad. Proximal part of all the fingers except thumb has provision to fix gripping pad. A spring passes through the proximal part, one end of which is anchored to a metallic lever in proximal part using a pin and other end is anchored in knuckle using a dowel pin. These distal part, proximal part and knuckle of each finger are pivotally joined using pivot pin and pivot screw.

In accordance with the aspect of the present invention, the fingers also comprise a string that is passing through the hole in sliding nut which is anchored at the proximal part to generate pull/push moment to the fingers. The movement of the finger is achieved with the string motion through the linear actuators.

In accordance with the aspect of the present invention, the gripping pads fixed to the facing sides of distal part and proximal part through snap fit provides friction in gripping the objects.

In accordance with the aspect of the present invention, wherein each finger assembly is mounted on to the knuckle. The knuckle is mounted onto the knuckle plate using a self-threading screw.

In accordance with the aspect of the present invention, the thumb finger is operated independently with a swiveling system. The thumb finger swiveling system is provided with a position feedback system and can move to three different positions.

In accordance with the aspect of the present invention, wherein the swivel is proposed to have three locking positions namely L1, L2 & L3 which are attained by applying rotational force on the swivel. On applying rotational force on the swivel in clockwise direction with respect to the reference locking position L1, user attains locking positions L2 & L3. The user can also rotate the swivel in anti-clockwise direction to comeback to any required position.

In accordance with the aspect of the present invention, wherein the palm base housed with electronic circuit is connected to the fingers through a knuckle plate. The four linear actuators are placed inside the palm base using a self-threading screw that help in opening and closing of the fingers.

In accordance with the aspect of the present invention, wherein fingers are actuated using linear actuators that pull or push the string that is passed through the hole of the sliding nut and is anchored at the proximal part.

In accordance with the aspect of the present invention, out of five fingers actuation of little and ring fingers happens through single actuator and remaining fingers are actuated through individual actuators.

In accordance with the aspect of the present invention, the bionic arm is provided with a microcontroller PCB that has a temperature sensor to monitor the overall device temperature and alert the user in case of device over-heating.

In accordance with the aspect of the present invention, the bionic arm is provided with a battery temperature monitoring system to alert the user in case of battery over-heating.

In accordance with the aspect of the present invention, the four fingers along with thumb swiveling system and palm base are assembled to the wrist device through screws. The wrist palm end can be rotated in both clockwise and anti-clockwise directions.

In accordance with the aspect of the present invention, the wrist device can move and lock in seven different positions. It is operated completely based on the user input and can lock at an accurate position to withstand heavy loads.

In accordance with the aspect of the present invention, to the wrist device a forearm designed is fixed through the forearm socket. The forearm comprises a multifunctional switch module with a button that helps the user to change the grip mode of the device, a power ON/OFF switch, a detachable top and bottom panel that are fixed using magnets and two EMG sensors.

In accordance with the aspect of the present invention, the EMG sensors with leads OFF detection enables the control system to know that the sensors are in proper contact with the human tissue.

In accordance with the aspect of the present invention, the EMG sensor with enable input pin that can be used to turn ON/OFF the EMG sensor, when the EMG signal is detected. This reduces the power consumption of overall prosthetic hand when EMG electrode is not in use.

In one embodiment, the grip user wants to use completely depends on the type of object that user wants to hold, and it is dynamic.

In other embodiment, the proposed invention is equipped with proportional control and current sense feedback system to hold the objects firmly.

In other embodiment, the invention mainly focusses on developing a customized forearm panels with different colors, patterns. The developed bionic arm comprises of a microcontroller that continuously tracks the working condition of key components like motors, battery and EMG sensors and sends this data to mobile application. This way the user can monitor the health of the device and resolve the issue in less time compared with the existing devices.

From the description above it is clear that various changes could be done to the preferred fully functional bionic arm without departing from the scope of the invention.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The present invention is illustrated by accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 illustrates the perspective view depicting the fingers, palm, wrist assembly with forearm according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 illustrates the top view depicting the wire harness of the forearm according to the present invention.

Fig. 3 illustrates the exploded view depicting the arrangement and components involved in constructing the forearm according to the present invention.

Fig. 4 illustrates the front view depicting Bluetooth communication between fully functional bionic arm and mobile application according to the present invention.

Fig. 5 illustrates the exploded view depicting a finger according to the present invention.

Fig. 6 illustrates the front view depicting the Fingers assembly with Knuckle Plate according to the present invention.

Fig. 7 illustrates the sectional view depicting a finger with string passage, spring passage and spring anchor points according to the present invention.

Fig. 8 illustrates the exploded view depicting a Thumb finger swiveling system according to the present invention.

Fig. 9 illustrates a front view depicting a Color pallet positioned with three slots t1, t2 and t3 according to the present invention.

Fig. 10 illustrates the sectional view depicting a thumb finger swiveling system according to the present invention.

Fig. 11 illustrates the thumb jaw and swivel locking mechanism showing three locking positions according to the present invention.

Fig. 12 illustrates the exploded view depicting the Thumb finger assembly to swiveling system according to the present invention.

Fig. 13 illustrates the assembled view depicting the arrangement of Thumb finger swiveling system with Palm according to the present invention.

Fig. 14 illustrates the exploded view depicting the arrangement and components involved in Palm according to the present invention.

Fig. 15 illustrates the top view depicting the Palm highlighting screw holes to fix actuators and palm top cover according to the present invention.

Fig. 16 illustrates the top view depicting the Actuator placement inside palm base according to the present invention.

Fig. 17 illustrates the front view depicting the Actuators assembly in palm with strings and fingers according to the present invention.

Fig. 18 illustrates the exploded view depicting an actuator according to the present invention.

Fig. 19 illustrates the top view depicting an Actuator with screw holes and sliding nut hole according to the present invention.

Fig. 20 illustrates the exploded view depicting the components involved in designing a locking device to rotate the prosthetic wrist in multiple locking positions according to the present invention.

Fig. 21 illustrates the top view depicting the prosthetic wrist locking device with multiple locking positions according to the present invention.

Fig. 22 illustrates the sectional view depicting the arrangements of components involved in designing a locking device to rotate a prosthetic wrist according to the present invention.

Fig. 23 illustrates the exploded view depicting the Power Distribution PCB assembly to a locking device to rotate the prosthetic wrist according to the present invention.

Fig. 24 illustrates the front view depicting the prosthetic wrist integration with palm according to the present invention.

Fig. 25 illustrates the side view depicting the prosthetic wrist assembly to palm using screws according to the present invention.

Fig. 26 illustrates the assembled view depicting the arrangement of fingers, palm and wrist according to the present invention.

Fig. 27 illustrates a mobile application screen that shows list of devices associated with a user according to the present invention.

Fig. 28 illustrates a mobile application screen that shows the device battery level according to the present invention.

Fig. 29 illustrates a mobile application screen that shows nodes present in palm segment according to the present invention.

Fig. 30 illustrates a mobile application screen that shows current modes and grips in the hand according to the present invention.

Fig. 31 illustrates a mobile application screen that shows grip details according to the present invention.

Fig. 32 illustrates a mobile application screen that shows grip test option according to the present invention.

Fig. 33 illustrates a mobile application screen that shows grip accuracy test report according to the present invention.

Fig. 34 illustrates a mobile application screen that shows EMG signal details according to the present invention.

Fig. 35 illustrates a mobile application screen that shows Firmware Update details according to the present invention.

Detailed Description of the Invention

The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present invention, applications, or uses. It should be understood that throughout the drawings, corresponding reference numerals indicate like or corresponding parts and features.

The present invention relates to a fully functional bionic arm that can perform up to 24 grip patterns by taking EMG signals as input and can communicate with mobile application over the Bluetooth.

The bionic arm usually has three main parts namely palm base with five fingers, wrist and forearm socket attached to the residual limb of the user. Fingers attached to palm part are actuated through linear actuator mechanism to enable multiple grasping behaviors and postures. The ability of the bionic arm is to hold various shaped objects of different sizes and shapes and perform various grip patterns these majorly depends on the thumb swiveling system which is pivot mounted on a palm base and the moment and locking of wrist in different positions.

The proposed invention is a fully functional bionic arm that comprise five fingers with proximal part and distal part that close and open because of pull/push action of a string that passes through the fingers, a Linear actuators having self-locking ability that pull and push the string, a User adjustable thumb finger swiveling system with position feedback, a palm base that houses electronic circuitry and linear actuators, a locking device to rotate a prosthetic wrist in multiple locking positions, a multi-functional switch module to accept input from user and to show intuitive notifications to user, a Microcontroller PCB with on board Bluetooth SoC, a power on/off button, a removable battery, a removable forearm top panel and bottom panel, an EMG sensors with leads OFF detection and enable pin.

Additionally, this fully functional bionic arm is provided with adaptive grip patterns that takes EMG signals as input and is provided with a mobile application that is integrated to monitor several aspects of the device and communicate via Bluetooth. The communication between mobile application and device is bidirectional and provide better user experience by integrating device health monitoring, battery status, Over the Air firmware upgrade, grip accuracy test, training tutorials and complaint tracking features in the application.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 illustrates the front view (100) depicting the fingers, palm, wrist assembly with forearm according to the present invention. The fully functional bionic arm comprises five fingers with proximal part (2) and distal part (17) that close and open for holding or gripping the objects, each finger (18) is equipped with a string (13) to generate pull/push moment to the fingers (18), a plurality of linear actuators with self-locking ability that pull and push the string (13), a user adjustable thumb finger (31) swiveling system enabled with position feedback, a palm base (26) that houses electronic circuitry and said linear actuators, a rotatable wrist (61) provided seven locking positions gets engaged with palm base (26) coaxially and a multi-functional switch module (79) to accept input from user and to show intuitive notifications to user.

A wrist forearm end (61) that engages with forearm socket (74). Four holes that are provided in Wrist forearm end (61) so, that it can be fixed to forearm socket (74) using screws. Wrist palm end (65) is rotatable and wrist forearm end (61) is fixed to forearm socket (74). FIG. 20 shows how wrist palm end (61) is fixed to palm base (26). As shown in FIG. 18 screws (68) are used to fix wrist palm end (65) to palm base (26).

The forearm has a detachable forearm top panel (71) and bottom panel (78) fixed to the forearm socket (74) using magnets (80). The top panel (71) and bottom panel (78) can be customized with various patterns and colors as per the user requirement. The designed fully functional bionic arm is available in two different size variants one with four linear actuators (39) in palm base (26) and another with three linear actuators (39) in palm base (26). The placement of the battery (72) in the forearm part may be internal or external to forearm socket (74) based on the amputation of the user.

Fig. 2 illustrates the top view (200) depicting the wire harness of the forearm according to the present invention. Inside the detachable forearm panels EMG sensors are embedded that are connected to the processing PCB or any other circuitry through a multi wire cable. The output of EMG sensors (75 & 77) is connected to microcontroller PCB (41) which operates the linear actuators (39) based on EMG pattern. This fully functional bionic hand is equipped with proportional control and current sense feedback system to hold the objects firmly.

The existing EMG sensors used in control of prosthetic or bionic hands suffer from problems like leads off and lack of power consumption optimization. A leads off condition can be defined as one or more of the three contact points of EMG sensor are not in contact with human tissue. In this condition the control system may interpret saturated signal as input and as a result the system may malfunction. Also, when there is no input being taken from EMG Sensor, keeping it powered will consume power. This makes high demands on addressing these issues to provide error free and power optimized input control system, the proposed fully functional bionic arm is developed.

Fig. 3 illustrates the exploded view (300) depicting the arrangement and components involved in constructing the forearm according to the present invention. The forearm designed is fixed to the designed hand through the forearm socket of the wrist device, wherein the forearm comprises: a thermo plastic Inner socket (76) that houses EMG sensors (75) & (77), a multi-functional Switch module is provided with a button (79) to change the device mode, an LED placed on the said multi-functional switch module notifies the change in mode, battery level, pattern recognition and Bluetooth status, a power on/off switch (81), a battery slot on forearm socket (74) to place the battery (72), screws (82) to attach wrist to the forearm, a thermo plastic inner socket (76) that provides smooth surface to the user’s skin, a top panel (71) and bottom panel (78) are detachable panels that are fixed to forearm Socket (74) using magnets (80), a magnet (80) that are mounted on to forearm socket (74) helps in fixing the said top and bottom detachable panels (71 & 78), a plurality of EMG sensors (75 & 77) placed on the forearm detects the moments of the muscle and corresponding signal is sent to the microcontroller and a rivet (73) helps in fixing the thermo plastic inner socket (76) to forearm socket (74).

The multi-functional switch module (79) is covered by using a silicon cap. An LED placed on the said multi-functional switch module (79) notifies the change in grip mode (device is equipped with four modes covering 24 grip patterns), battery level, pattern recognition and Bluetooth status. The LEDs comprise RGB that are used to show the change in mode, battery level, pattern recognition and Bluetooth status by indicating the representative colors present on the LED.

The EMG sensors (75 & 77) placed on the forearm detects the moments of the muscle and corresponding signal is sent to the microcontroller. The microcontroller present on microcontroller PCB continuously reads leads off output of EMG sensors which gives information whether EMG sensor is in contact with the human skin or not. The two EMG sensors (75 & 77) placed on user’s forearm captures EMG signals of flexor and extensor muscles. Whenever user moves the forearm muscles, EMG sensors detects the movements and corresponding signal is sent to microcontroller. In this case even after user applying EMG signals, if the output of EMG sensor is zero then it is considered as EMG sensor failure.

As most or all the prosthetic or bionic hands are battery powered. So, power back up is the main concern to be looked into. Reducing power consumption of one or more parts of the prosthetic or bionic hand can greatly increase the battery backup of the prosthetic or bionic hand which is desirable. So, in the proposed invention turning ON the EMG electrodes only when EMG signal is required reduces the overall power consumption of system. With the latest advancements in power semiconductors industry many of the integrated chips are equipped with Enable pins to enable output of the voltage regulator which supplies power to entire circuitry of EMG electrode. This Enable pin can be controlled by control system of bionic hand reduces power of the device when not in use.

In the proposed invention the forearm includes an EMG sensor with leads OFF detection and enable pin that enables the control system to know that the EMG sensors (75 & 77) are in proper contact with human tissue. The EMG sensor is provided with an enable electrode input pin that ensures electrode is turned ON only when EMG signal input is required. So, it reduces power consumption of overall prosthetic hand. This EMG sensor with Leads OFF detection embedded in the forearm mitigates the risk of device malfunctioning due to wrong interpretation of EMG signal as high when the high EMG signal is actually generated because of Leads OFF of EMG Electrode inputs.

Fig. 4 illustrates the front view (400) depicting Bluetooth communication between fully functional bionic arm and mobile application according to the present invention. The developed fully functional bionic arm with adaptive grip patterns that takes the EMG signals as input and communicates with mobile application over Bluetooth. The communication between mobile application and device is bi-directional. a mobile application installed in the user’s communication device communicates with the bionic hand over Bluetooth.

The developed mobile application provides features like Device health monitoring, battery status, Over the Air firmware upgrade, Grip accuracy test, training tutorials and complaint tracking. This application communicates with fully functional bionic arm via Bluetooth. This application communicates with server through RESTful web services.

The key components of the fully functional bionic arm like motors, battery, EMG sensors are continuously tracked to check if they are working or not by the microcontroller present on microcontroller PCB. This microcontroller PCB continuously reads the current position of the motor using encoder feedback. For example, to check the health of a motor, the motor is provided with required voltage and microcontroller present on microcontroller PCB sends command to motor to rotate and then the encoder counts of the motors are read to check if the motor is really moving. Additionally, microcontroller PCB also senses the current drawn by the motor. Based on the change in encoder counts and current sense feedback the microcontroller detects the health status of the motor. Duration Calibration Microcontroller present on microcontroller PCB checks if the voltage output of the battery is as per requirement or not. Based on this microcontroller will be able to decide if battery is working as per requirement or not.

To check the Device health monitoring, battery status, Over the Air firmware upgrade, Grip accuracy test, training tutorials and complaint tracking the fully functional bionic arm is divided into three segments namely palm, battery and sensors. Each segment has a set of nodes and each node indicates certain component inside the bionic arm. Each node is represented either by red or blue dot. Red indicates something is wrong with the node and blue indicates that the status is good. Four nodes present in palm segment indicates four motors. Three nodes present in forearm indicates battery, two EMG sensors. With this provided indication user can view the health status of various components by tapping on red/blue dots.

The major feature like Device health monitoring plays an important role in serviceability aspect where detecting the health of various components will help in identifying the exact issue and providing required support to the user in resolving the issue. If any issue is detected, user can reach out to customer support through the mobile application and in this scenario, vendor will receive device health status details so that vendor can easily identify the actual issue and deploy required technician for fixing the issue.

For example, if a problem is found with Motors, then we can deploy electronics engineer who has expertise with motors to fix the issue and if the problem is with the battery/EMG sensors, user can approach Clinician to replace the battery/sensors. In this way the user can resolve the issue at the earlier without waiting for months to get resolve the Issue.

Fig. 5 illustrates the exploded view (500) depicting a finger embedded in the palm according to the present invention. The finger (18) assembly of each finger comprises a distal part (17) having dovetail slots, a spring (1), a proximal part (2), a string (13) that is passing through the hole in sliding nut, a plurality of gripping pads (12 & 15) and a knuckle (10).

The distal part (17) and proximal part (2) having dovetail slots for fixing gripping pads (15). The distal part (17), proximal part (2) and knuckle (10) of each finger are pivotally joined using pivot pin (6 & 8) and pivot screw (14 & 11). The distal (17), proximal parts (2) and knuckle (10) are secured by the bearings (7 & 9) at the joints to reduce the friction between the moving parts. The said movement of the finger (18) is achieved with the string motion (13) through the linear actuators. The griping pads (12 & 15) are fixed at the facing side of the fingers of both distal (17) and proximal (2) parts through snap fit to provide friction in gripping the objects. The gripping pads (15) fixed to the distal part and proximal part provides friction to the fingers while holding the objects.

The spring (85), one end of which is anchored at metallic lever in proximal part (2) and another end passes through knuckle (10) and is anchored at knuckle (84) as shown in fig. 7. The string (13) that is passing through the string passage (83) in sliding nut is anchored at proximal part (2) that generates pull/push moment to the fingers. The fingers open and close action is executed by pull and push action of the string (13) that is passed through the fingers. Wherein retraction motion of fingers is achieved through the moment of springs (85) present in proximal part (2).

Fig. 6 illustrates the front view (600) depicting the fingers assembly with Knuckle Plate according to the present invention. The four out of five fingers (18) comprise a distal part (17) and proximal part (2) that are fixed with the gripping pads (12) & (15) at the facing side of the fingers of both distal and proximal parts through snap fit to provide friction in gripping the objects. Each finger is equipped with a string (13) to generate pull/push moment to the fingers (18). Each finger assembly (18) is mounted on to the knuckle (10), wherein the knuckle (10) is mounted onto the knuckle plate (19) using a self-threading screw. These distal part (17), proximal part (2) and knuckle (10) of each finger (18) are pivotally joined using pivot pin (6 & 8) and pivot screw (14 & 11).

Fig. 7 illustrates the sectional view (700) depicting a finger with string passage (83), spring passage (85) and spring anchor points (86) according to the present invention. A spring (5) housed inside the finger (18), passes through the finger is useful for retraction of the finger (18). One end of the spring (5) is anchored at metallic lever in proximal part (2) and the other end passes through knuckle (10) and is anchored at knuckle (84).

The proximal part (2) and distal part (17) close and open because of pull/push action of a string (13) that passes through the fingers (18). The string (13) passed in the finger (18) is passing through the hole in sliding nut (51) is anchored at the proximal part (2) generates pull/push moment to the fingers (18).

Fig. 8 illustrates the exploded view (800) depicting a thumb finger swiveling system according to the present invention. The thumb finger swiveling system for bionic arm comprises a swivel (22), a Position sense PCB (23), a color pallet (24), a spring (25), the palm base (26), a dowel pin (27), a grub screw (28), a nylon bush (29) and a jaw (30). The thumb swiveling system is designed to provide the position feedback and can move to three different positions.

A swivel (22) with teeth that is pivoted to the palm base (26) using a dowel pin (27), that moves over a Jaw (30). A grub screw (28) inserted into the dowel pin (27) arrests the axial movement of dowel pin (27) during swivel (22) rotation. A compression spring (25) is housed in the palm base (26), so that spring (25) force ensures that swivel (22) and jaw (30) are locked in certain position while moving the thumb (31). A jaw (30) holding the spring (25) oscillates up and down and keeps the swivel (22) intact to the pivot axis.

A color pallet (24) accommodated with three slots t1, t2 and t3 is fixed to the swivel (22) using snap fit, so that it moves along with the swivel (22). The Slots t1, t2, t3 as shown in Fig. 5 are coated with BLUE, GREEN and RED colors, respectively. A color sensor (not shown) is present on position sense PCB (23) that records the reflecting light coming from color pallet (24) and gives the position feedback of the thumb (31) as shown in Fig. 5. The position sense PCB (23) is provided with a slot through which a dowel pin (27) passes through it and a nylon bush (29) is placed between position sense PCB (23) and the swivel (22) so that the position sense PCB (23) is held firmly.

The position sense PCB (23) output is connected to input pin of a microcontroller PCB (not shown) that continuously reads the data coming from color sensor present on the position sense PCB (23). Whenever swivel (22) moves, the color pallet (24) also moves along with swivel (22) and the color sensor present on position sense PCB (23) records the reflecting light and sends the data to microcontroller PCB which detects the position of the thumb (31). The reflecting light from t3, t2, t1 corresponds to locking positions L1, L2, L3, respectively.

Fig. 9 illustrates a front view (900) depicting a color pallet positioned with three slots t1, t2 and t3 according to the present invention. The color pallet (24) is designed with three slots t1, t2 and t3 and is fixed to the swivel (22) using a snap fit. Whenever swivel (22) moves, the color pallet (24) also moves along with swivel (22). The slots t1, t2 and t3 are coated with BLUE, GREEN and RED colors, respectively.

Upon the swivel (22) movement, the color pallet (24) moves along with the swivel (22), the color sensor present on the position sense board PCB (23) records the reflecting light coming from the colored slots present on the color pallet (24) and sends the corresponding digital value of color to microcontroller PCB (23) that detects the thumb finger position. The algorithm running in microcontroller PCB detects the digital return of color sensor corresponding to the slots t1, t2 & t3 and decides the position of thumb finger.

Fig. 10 illustrates the sectional view (1000) depicting a thumb finger swiveling system according to the present invention. Fig.6 shows us the swivel (22), the spring (25), the palm base (26), a jaw (30), a thumb finger (31), the flexible silicone rubber covering (34) and a pivot pin (35). The swivel (22) with teeth that is pivoted to the palm base (26) using a dowel pin (27) and moves over a Jaw (30). The compression spring (25) that is housed in the palm base (26) ensures that swivel (22) and jaw (30) are locked in certain position. The jaw (30) holding the spring (25) oscillates up and down and keeps the swivel (22) intact to the pivot axis.

A housing is arranged to incorporate a bearing (36), a pivot pin (35) and pivot screw (37) to fix the Thumb finger (31) to swivel (22). The thumb finger (31) is associated to the swiveling system through a pivot pin (35) and pivot screw (37) as shown in Fig. 7. The dowel pin (33) anchors the thumb finger spring (32) to swivel (22). A flexible Silicone rubber covering (34) is covered over the swiveling system near the base of thumb finger (31) to protect the mechanical components inside the palm base (26). The Thumb finger (31) swiveling system is provided with three locking positions namely L1, L2 and L3.

Fig. 11 illustrates the thumb jaw and swivel locking mechanism (110) showing three locking positions according to the present invention. The swivel (22) is proposed to have three locking positions namely L1, L2 & L3 which are attained through position sense PCB functioning explained in Fig.4. The swivel (22) is initially at locking position L1(reference position) with swivel (22) teeth and jaw (30) engaged preventing movement of swivel relative to palm base (26). The position sense PCB (23) is fixed between palm housing (26) and swivel (22) to sense the position of the thumb finger. The color sensor present on position sense PCB (2) records the reflecting light coming from slots t1, t2 & t3. The reflecting light coming from t3, t2, t1 corresponds to locking positions L1, L2, L3 respectively. A microcontroller PCB continuously reads the data coming from color sensor present on the position sense PCB (23) and decides the position of thumb finger.

At this point (Locking position L1), the Color sensor present on Position sense PCB (23) will now record the reflecting light from Red Colored slot t3, this information is read by microcontroller PCB and Thumb finger (31) position is sensed.

User can swivel to locking position L2 by rotating the swivel (22) in clockwise direction for 9.4 degrees with respect to reference locking position L1. This rotation results in compression of the spring (25) and moment of jaw (30) in downward direction. As a result, the jaw (30) gets dis engaged from swivel (22) and enables it to move freely. Once the user stops applying force on the swivel (22), the spring (25) expands and the jaw (30) gets engaged with swivel (22) teeth, this locks the swivel (22) in locking position L2.

At this point (Locking position L2), the Color sensor present on Position sense PCB (23) will now record the reflecting light from Green Colored slot t2, this information is read by microcontroller PCB and Thumb finger (31) position is sensed.

Thumb finger (31) swiveling system further comprises of one more locking position L3. User can swivel to locking position L3 by rotating the swivel (22) in clockwise direction for 74.4 degrees with respect to reference position L1. Once the user stops applying force on the swivel (22), the spring (25) expands and the jaw (30) gets engaged with swivel (22) teeth thus locks the swivel (22) in locking position L3.

At this point (Locking position L3), the color sensor present on position sense PCB (23) will now record the reflecting light from Blue Colored slot t1, this information is read by microcontroller PCB and Thumb finger (31) position is sensed.

Fig. 12 illustrates the exploded view (1200) depicting the thumb finger assembly to swiveling system according to the present invention. The thumb finger assembly comprises a palm base (26), a thumb finger (31), a thumb finger spring (32), a dowel pin (33), a flexible silicone rubber covering (34), a pivot pin (35), a bearing (36) and a pivot screw (37). A housing is arranged to incorporate a bearing (36) and a pivot pin (35) and pivot screw (37) to fix the Thumb finger (31) to swivel (22). The top end of the swivel (22) has a through hole for incorporating the thumb finger (31) of the bionic hand with suitable fastening elements preferably pivot pin (35) and pivot screw (37). The key component of thumb finger swiveling system is swivel (22). The Jaw (30) is another key component that engages with the swivel (22) and enables the swivel (22) to rotate. The pitch and tooth depth of the swivel (22) are chosen based on the requirement of thumb position for holding various objects. Swivel (22) is pivoted to the palm base (26) using a dowel pin (27).

The thumb finger (31) is associated to the swiveling system through a dowel pin (33). The dowel pin (33) anchors the thumb finger spring (32) to the swivel (22). A flexible Silicone rubber covering (34) is covered over the swiveling system near the base of thumb finger (31) to protect the mechanical components inside the palm base (26).

Fig. 13 illustrates the assembled view (1300) depicting the arrangement of thumb finger swiveling system with palm according to the present invention. The thumb finger (31) is associated to the swiveling system (700) which comprise a position feedback mechanism. The position of the thumb is sensed by the color sensor present on position sense PCB (23) that records the reflecting light from color pallet (24) gives the position feedback of the thumb. The thumb swiveling system (22) with position feedback can move to three different locking positions.

On applying rotational force on the swivel (22) in clockwise direction with respect to the reference locking position L1, locking position L2 and locking position L3 are obtained by compression of the spring (25) and the movement of jaw (30) in downward direction. The color sensor present on Position sense PCB (23) will record the reflecting light coming from the slots of color pallet, this information is read by microcontroller PCB and Thumb finger (31) position is sensed.

A flexible Silicone rubber covering (34) is covered over the swiveling system near the base of thumb finger (31) to protect the mechanical components inside the palm base (26). The swiveling system (22) is completely user input based that gives accurate locking position and can take heavy loads.

By using the proposed the thumb finger swiveling system, the user can rotate the swivel (22) in anti-clockwise direction to comeback to any required position.

Fig. 14 illustrates the exploded view (1400) depicting the arrangement and components involved in palm according to the present invention. The palm base (26) housed with electronic circuit is connected to the fingers through a knuckle plate (19). The four linear actuators (39) are placed inside the palm base (26) using a self-threading screw that help in opening and closing of the fingers (18). And these fingers (18) are actuated using linear actuators (39) that pull or push the string (13) that is passed through the hole of the sliding nut and is crimped at the fingertip of the distal part (17). Out of five fingers actuation of little and ring fingers happens through single actuator and remaining fingers are actuated through individual actuators. The bionic arm is provided with a microcontroller PCB (41) that has a temperature sensor to monitor the overall device temperature and alert the user in case of device over-heating and providing a battery temperature monitoring system to alert the user in case of battery over-heating.

Fig. 15 illustrates the top view (1500) depicting the palm highlighting screw holes to fix actuators and palm top cover according to the present invention. The palm base (26) housed with electronic circuit is connected to the fingers (18) through a knuckle plate (19). A palm base (26) has mounting holes (89) to fix linear actuators (39) and gripping pad (38) to the palm body. The palm base is provided with the top cover (40) that houses four actuators (39), microcontroller PCB (41) and power circuitry PCB (42). The palm base (26) is also provided with screw holes (88) to fix top and bottom cover of the palm using self-threading screws.

Fig. 16 illustrates the top view (1600) depicting the actuator placement inside palm base according to the present invention. To operate the four fingers (18) the four linear actuators (39) are placed inside the palm base (26) using a self-threading screw (70) that helps in opening and closing of the fingers. The linear actuators (39) have self-locking ability that pull and push the string (13) that passes through the finger (18).

Fig. 17 illustrates the front view (1700) depicting the actuators assembly in palm with strings and fingers according to the present invention. The palm base, wherein fingers (18) are actuated using linear actuators (39) that pull or push the string (13) that is passed through the hole of the sliding nut (51) and is crimped at the tip of the distal part (17) and out of five fingers, actuation of little and ring fingers happens through single actuator and remaining fingers are actuated through individual actuators. The linear actuators (39) are configured in such a way that backward stroke of index, middle and little/ring finger actuators will result in closing of fingers, whereas forward stroke of thumb actuator will result in closing of thumb finger. Additional ribbings are provided in top cover (40) and palm base (26) to restrict axial and tilting motion of linear actuators (39).

Fig. 18 illustrates the exploded view (1800) depicting an actuator according to the present invention. The linear actuators (39) for opening and closing of the fingers (18) are equipped with a DC Motor (52) with encoders for position feedback that drives the spur gear (55) attached to its shaft is fixed to actuator body (49) using screws (53) & (54), an actuator body (49) houses DC motor (52), lead screw (50) and sliding nut (51), a driving spur gear (55) and a driven spur gear (46) are mounted onto DC motor (52) shaft for transferring the rotational motion of DC motor (52) to the lead screw (50), a lead screw (50) with sliding nut (51) over it and support bearings (69, 44) moves forward and backward, a stop ring (43) to arrest the axial motion of lead screw (50), a gear housing (45) consisting of spur gears (55) & (46) is fixed to the actuator body (49) using screws (56) & (57), a bearing housing (47) is fixed to the actuator body (49) by using screws (48) & (58) which helps in load distribution, the screw holes (90) provided on the linear actuator (39) helps in fixing the actuator (39) to palm base (26) using screws (70) and a sliding nut (51) with a hole has a rotational restriction inside the actuator body (49).

Fig. 19 illustrates the top view (1900) depicting an actuator with screw holes and sliding nut hole according to the present invention. The Fig.14 shows screw holes to fix actuator to palm (26) and hole for dowel pin. The screw holes provided on the linear actuator (39) helps in fixing the actuator (39) to palm base (26) using screws (70) and a hole at one end of the actuator (39) for fixing a dowel pin (27).

Fig. 20 illustrates the exploded view (2000) depicting the components involved in designing the improved wrist according to the present invention. The improved wrist device for bionic arm comprises a circlip (59), screws (60), a wrist forearm end (61), a cogwheel (62), an indexing wedge (63), a compression spring (64) and wrist palm end (65).

The circlip (59) used binds the wrist palm end (65) and the wrist fore-arm end (61). The wrist palm end (65) has a projection with a grove to insert the circlip (59). To the wrist palm end (65) a cog wheel (62), an indexing wedge (63) and a compression spring (64) are arranged which help in rotating and locking the wrist in multiple positions. Screws (60) are used for fixing cogwheel (62) to wrist fore-arm end (61). The compression spring (64) is housed in slot provided in the wrist palm end (65) to engage and disengage the indexing wedge (63). A cogwheel (62) is housed in the wrist palm end (65) constitute seven locking positions that lock the wrist in specific position desired by the user and an indexing wedge slidably mounted inside the slot of the wrist palm end (65) locks the cog wheel (62) in a specific position.

The wrist palm end (65) can be rotated in both clockwise and anti-cock wise direction. User can apply rotational force on wrist palm end (65) and anti-clockwise rotation of the wrist palm end (65) for 30 degrees with respect to reference position will result in compression of the compression spring (64) and the indexing wedge (63) moves in upward direction. The wrist palm end (65) is rotatably mounted on the wrist forearm end (61) and the said forearm end (61) is fixed to the forearm socket.

The indexing wedge (63) will be initially at locking position W1 (Reference position), with cogwheel (62) teeth. The moment of indexing wedge (63) results in the dis-engagement of cogwheel (62) from the said indexing wedge (63) and enables the wrist palm end (65) to move freely in desired angles. The indexing wedge (63) engaged with cog wheel (62) prevents movement of wrist palm end (65) relative to wrist forearm end (61). Once the user stops applying force on the wrist palm end (65), the compression spring (64) force pushes the indexing wedge (63) and the indexing wedge (63) gets engaged with cogwheel (62) teeth, this locks the wrist in locking position W2.

Fig. 21 illustrates the top view (2100) depicting the wrist locking positions according to the present invention. The wrist locking system includes a cogwheel (62), an indexing wedge (63) and a compression spring (64). The compression spring (64) is housed in slot provided in wrist palm end (65) to engage and disengage the indexing wedge (63). The indexing wedge (63) is slidably mounted inside the slot of the wrist palm end (65) to lock the cogwheel (62) in a specific position. The cogwheel (62) housed in wrist palm end (65) constitute seven locking positions to lock the wrist in specific position desired by the user. The cogwheel (62) teeth and the indexing wedge (63) radially gets engaged and thus prevents the lateral movement of wrist palm end (65) relative to wrist forearm end (61).

The indexing wedge (63) of the wrist palm end (65) is configured with seven possible movements referred to as W1, W2, W3, W4, W5, W6 & W7 at an interval of 30 degrees with its engagement with the cogwheel (62) upon the user’s movement of the arm. The cogwheel (62) has stoppers for indexing wedge (63) movement at end of W1 and W7. By applying rotational force on wrist palm end (65) for 30 degrees in anti-clockwise direction with respect to reference position W1, locking position W2 is obtained by compression of the compression spring (64) and movement of indexing wedge (63) in upward direction.

Fig. 22 illustrates the sectional view (2200) depicting the arrangements of components include in designing the wrist according to the present invention. Fig. 18, shows a circlip (59), a wrist forearm end (61), a cogwheel (62), an indexing wedge (63), a compression spring (64), and a wrist palm end (65). The said wrist palm end (65) has a projection with a grove to insert circlip (59) to bind the said wrist palm end (65) and the wrist fore-arm end (61) for eliminating any sort of lateral movement among them. The cogwheel (62) teeth and indexing wedge (63) radially gets engaged thus preventing the lateral movement of wrist palm end (65) relative to wrist forearm end (61). The indexing wedge (63) movement results in the cogwheel (62) dis-engagement from the said indexing wedge (63) and enables the wrist palm end (65) to move freely in desired angles. A compression spring (64) housed in the slot provided in wrist palm end (65) engages and disengages the indexing wedge (63). The user is provided to adjust the wrist in multiple locking positions and thereby enables the user to grasp objects of various shapes and sizes.

Fig. 23 illustrates the exploded view depicting the Power Distribution PCB assembly to wrist according to the present invention. The improved wrist device comprises a Power Control PCB (66) for distributing power to various electronic components of the bionic hand. The power distribution PCB (66) is mounted to wrist fore-arm end (61) using screws (67).

Fig. 24 illustrates the front view (2400) depicting the wrist integration with palm according to the present invention. The wrist forearm end (61) and the wrist palm end (65) are interconnected to palm base (26). The wrist palm base (26) is rotatably fixed to the wrist palm end (65), the palm base (26) is equipped with linear actuators (39) for the opening and closing of fingers. The palm base is embedded with a microcontroller printed circuit boards (42) & (41) and connected to the wrist palm end (65) to control the actuators (39) that are housed inside the palm.

The locking position system is assembled between the wrist forearm end (61) and wrist palm end (65). The locking system has seven locking positions that are arranged at an interval of 30 degrees and are adjustable and controlled by the user. The assembly wrist design can be extended to multiple locking positions by inserting more teeth on the cog wheel.

Fig. 25 illustrates the side view (2500) depicting the wrist assembly to Palm using screws according to the present invention. The wrist forearm end (61) is locked to palm base (26) using screws (68). The wrist palm base (26) interconnected with five fingers and positioned with a linear actuator (39) for the movement of fingers.

Fig. 26 illustrates the assembled view (2600) depicting the arrangement of fingers, palm and wrist according to the present invention. The wrist device has three main parts namely palm base with five fingers, wrist and forearm socket attached to the residual limb of the user. The wrist palm end (65) engages with the palm base (26) and the forearm end (61) engages with forearm socket. A plurality of slots are provided on the wrist forearm end (61), so that the forearm end (61) is fixed to the forearm socket using screws. The wrist palm end (65) is rotatable and Wrist forearm end (61) is fixed to forearm socket.

A locking system with cog wheel, compression spring and indexing wedge is integrated in the wrist palm end (65). A cogwheel is housed in the wrist palm end (65) has three holes, so that it can be fixed to Wrist forearm end (61) using screws (60).

The improved wrist device allows the human beings to accomplish sophisticated movements. It enables the human beings to complete the tasks accurately. By using improved wrist device user can move and lock his arm in seven different positions. This device provides the user to adjust and lock the wrist in multiple positions. The wrist device is designed with minimum number of components and enables the user to grasp objects of various shapes and sizes. The wrist device is completely user input based and gives accurate position locking and can take heavy loads.

In one embodiment, the proposed prosthetic wrist device can be manufactured either in plastic or in metal. The observed weight of the prosthetic wrist device using plastic material is 60 grams and it is 100 grams when manufactured using aluminum. Approximate length of the proposed prosthetic wrist is 34mm and can be manufactured in 43mm and 53mm diameters which makes it usable for both trans radial amputation and wrist disarticulation.

Fig. 27 illustrates a mobile application screen that shows list of devices associated with a user according to the present invention. The installed mobile application in the user’s communication device communicates with the bionic hand over Bluetooth. This communication between mobile application and device is bi-directional. The provided screen shot shows list of devices associated with a user in his communication device and the user on his choice is able to select and connect with the required device.

Fig. 28 illustrates a mobile application screen that shows the device battery level according to the present invention. The mobile application integrated with the device provides better experience to the user. The user through the mobile application can monitor the battery status/level. If battery level is less than or equal to 25% the user will be notified using a popup window.

Fig. 29 illustrates a mobile application screen that shows nodes present in palm segment according to the present invention. The fully functional bionic arm is divided into segments namely palm, battery, motor and sensor. Each segment is provided with a set of nodes and the nodes here indicates with certain component inside the bionic arm. Each node is represented either by red or blue dot. Red indicates if anything is wrong with the component mentioned with a node and blue indicates that the status is good.

For example, if the index finger node motor gets disconnected the status of the motor is displayed in the mobile application as status failure and report is issued to the user. Where, the user can report the issue to the concerned team through the mobile application instantly.

Fig. 30 illustrates a mobile application screen that shows current modes and grips in the hand according to the present invention. Device is initially equipped with 3 modes covering 18 grips. User can also create up to 6 custom grips. Each mode is equipped with certain grip patterns and user can select the grip based on the selected mode.

Fig. 31 illustrates a mobile application screen that shows Grip details according to the present invention. The device is equipped with several modes that covers certain grip patterns that are required to the user to perform several activities in their day to day works. Each mode is equipped with certain grip patterns and user can select the grip pattern based on the selected mode.

Fig. 32 illustrates a mobile application screen that shows Grip test option according to the present invention. The user can view the grip details by selecting the required mode and can also check grip accuracy by clicking on test grip button through the developed mobile application. The grip is useful for performing daily activities like holding spoon, brush, etc. This grip requires and offers high torque for holding the object firmly.

Fig. 33 illustrates a mobile application screen that shows Grip accuracy test report according to the present invention. User can view the grip details by selecting the mode and can also check grip accuracy by clicking on test grip button. After doing the grip test, user can reach out to customer support through the mobile application itself if average grip test accuracy is less than 80%.

Fig. 34 illustrates a mobile application screen that shows EMG signal details according to the present invention. The user can check the EMG signal strength and the results are displayed in the mobile application.

Fig. 35 illustrates a mobile application screen that shows Firmware Update details according to the present invention. If the device firmware is updated the user gets notification through the mobile application and also can check for latest device firmware release and update the device through mobile application.

,CLAIMS:1. A fully functional bionic arm (100), comprises:
five fingers (18) with proximal part (2) and distal part (17) that close and open for holding or gripping the objects, each finger (18) is equipped with a string (13) to generate pull/push moment to the fingers (18);
a plurality of linear actuators (39) with self-locking ability that pull and push the string (13);
a user adjustable thumb finger (31) swiveling system enabled with position feedback;
a palm base (26) that houses electronic circuitry and said linear actuators (39);
a rotatable wrist (61) provided seven locking positions gets engaged with palm base (26) coaxially;
a multi-functional switch module (79) to accept input from user and to show intuitive notifications to user;
a microcontroller PCB (41) with on board Bluetooth SoC connectivity is housed inside the palm to detect the position of the thumb and has a temperature sensor to monitor the overall device temperature;
a power on/off switch (81);
a removable battery (72) with temperature detection system;
a detachable forearm top panel (71) and bottom panel (78) fixed to the forearm socket (74) using magnets (80);
a` plurality of EMG sensors (75 & 77) with leads OFF detection and enable pin;
a mobile application installed in the user’s communication device communicates with the bionic hand over Bluetooth;
Characterized by:
the fully functional bionic arm (100) is equipped with motors (52), battery (72) and EMG sensors (75 & 77) that are continuously tracked to monitor the health of the device;
the microcontroller present on the microcontroller PCB (41) continuously reads the current position of the motor using encoder feedback;
the motor is provided with required voltage and the microcontroller present on microcontroller PCB sends command to motor to rotate and then the encoder starts counting to check the motors moment, based on the change in encoder count and current sense feedback, microcontroller detects the health status of the motor;
the duration calibration microcontroller present on microcontroller PCB (41) checks the voltage output of the battery is as per the requirement, based on this date the microcontroller decides the battery condition;
the bionic arm is equipped with temperature sensor, the microcontroller PCB (41) present in the palm (26) and temperature monitoring circuitry inside the battery tracks the data coming from the temperature sensors and alerts the user by blinking a LED in red colour that is present on multi-functional switch module (79).
the microcontroller present on the microcontroller PCB (41) continuously reads the lead off output of the EMG sensor (75 & 77) and checks whether the EMG sensor is in proper contact with the human tissue or not, the Enable Electrode input ensures electrode be turned ON only when the EMG signal input is required;
the enable pin is controlled by control system of bionic arm to reduce power when not in use.
the user on applying EMG signal, if the output of the EMG sensor is zero then it is considered as EMG sensor failure;
the major components inside the bionic arm are categorized into segment and each segment has nodes that indicate motor, each node is represented either by red/blue dot, user can view/monitor the health status of various components by tapping on red/blue dots;
the user can monitor the health status of the device through the mobile application and can easily identify the actual issue and deploy required technician for fixing the issue through the mobile application; and
the user can view list of all modes and grips and can test the grip accuracy by clicking on test grip button provided in the mobile application if the average grip test accuracy is less than 80% can reach the customer support through the mobile application.

2. The fully functional bionic arm (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the wrist forearm end (61) that engages with forearm socket (74) is fixed using screw, wherein the forearm (300) comprises:
a. a thermo plastic Inner socket (76) that houses EMG sensors (75) & (77);
b. a multi-functional Switch module is provided with a button (79) to change the device mode;
c. an LED placed beneath the said multi-functional switch module notifies the change in mode, battery level, pattern recognition and Bluetooth status;
d. a power on/off switch (81);
e. a battery slot on forearm socket (74) to place the battery (72);
f. screws (82) to attach wrist to the forearm;
g. a thermo plastic inner socket (76) that provides smooth surface to the user’s skin;
h. a top panel (71) and bottom panel (78) are detachable panels that are fixed to forearm Socket (74) using magnets (80);
i. a magnet (80) that are mounted on to forearm socket (74) helps in fixing the said top and bottom detachable panels (71 & 78);
j. a plurality of EMG sensors (75 & 77) placed on the forearm detects the moments of the muscle and corresponding signal is sent to the microcontroller;
k. a rivet (73) helps in fixing the thermo plastic inner socket (76) to forearm socket (74);
l. the health status of the motors (52), battery (72) and EMG sensors (75 & 77) are continuously tracked by the microcontroller present on the microcontroller PCB that continuously reads the current position of the motor using encoder feedback; and
m. monitoring the health status of various components helps in identifying the issue and in providing the required technician support to the user and the user through the mobile application can reach the customer support.

3. The forearm (300) according to claim 2, wherein the button (79) helps in changing the grip mode of the device, where the proposed device is equipped with four modes covering twenty-four grip patterns.

4. The forearm (300) according to claim 2, wherein the Cables from EMG sensors (75 &77), battery (72) and multi-functional switch module (81) are connected to power distribution PCB (66). The single FPC cable from power distribution PCB (66) is connected to microcontroller PCB (41) housed inside the palm.

5. The forearm (300) according to claim 2, wherein the top and bottom detachable panels (71 & 78) can be customized with various patterns and colors.

6. The forearm (300) according to claim 2, wherein a thermo plastic inner socket (76) housed with EMG sensor (75) & (77) senses the EMG signal, wherein the EMG sensor comprises:
a. three contact points usually coated with good conductive materials which will be in contact with human tissue to sense EMG signals;
b. an electronic circuitry to convert EMG signals to the format which is readable by Microprocessor/Micro-controller/ and or any signal converters attached to bionic arm;
c. a gain adjustment knob to amplify the EMG signals to desired level;
d. a multi wire cable which connects the EMG sensors (75) & (77) to process PCB or any other circuitry; and
e. a lead OFF detection that enables the control system to know that the EMG sensors (75) & (77) are in proper contact with human tissue.

7. The EMG sensor as claimed in claim 6, wherein the output of EMG sensors (75) & (77) are connected to microcontroller PCB (41) which operates the linear actuators (39) based on EMG pattern.

8. The EMG sensor as claimed in claim 6, wherein the EMG sensors (75) & (77) is provided with an enable electrode input pin that ensures electrode is turned ON only when EMG signal input is required. So, it reduces power consumption of overall prosthetic hand.

9. The fully functional bionic arm (100) as claimed in claim 1, is integrated with a mobile application that provides details of Device health, battery status, over the air firmware upgrade, grip accuracy test, training tutorials and complaint tracking for the user.

10. The fully functional bionic arm (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the finger assembly (500) of each finger comprises of:
a distal part (17) having dovetail slots for fixing gripping pad (15);
a proximal part (2) has dovetail slots for fixing the gripping pad (12);
a spring (1), one end of which is anchored in proximal part (2) using and the other end passes through knuckle (10) and is anchored at knuckle (10);
a string (13) that is passing through the hole in sliding nut (51), is anchored at the lever (5) in proximal part (2) to generate pull/push moment to the fingers (18);
a plurality of gripping pads (12) & (15) fixed to the distal part (17) and proximal part (2) provides friction to the fingers while holding the objects; and
a knuckle (10) to support the finger assembly is mounted onto knuckle plate (19) using a self-threading screw (20).

11. The fingers of the bionic hand according to claim 10, wherein the distal part (17), proximal part (2) and knuckle (10) of each finger are pivotally joined using pivot pin (6) & (8) and pivot screw (14) & (11).

12. The fingers of the bionic hand according to claim 10, wherein the distal (17), proximal (2) parts and knuckle (10) are secured by the bearings (7) & (9) at the joints to reduce the friction between the moving parts, the said movement of the finger is achieved with the string motion (13) through the linear actuators.

13. The fingers of the bionic hand according to claim 10, wherein the griping pads (12) & (15) are fixed at the facing side of the fingers of both distal and proximal parts through snap fit to provide friction in gripping the objects.

14. The fingers of the bionic hand as claimed in claim 10, wherein the fingers (18) open and close by pull and push action of the string passes through the fingers. Wherein motion achieved through the moment of springs (1) present in proximal (2) is useful for retraction of the finger.

15. The fully functional bionic arm (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the thumb finger (31) is operated independently with the swiveling system, wherein the swiveling system comprises of:
a. a swivel (22) with teeth that is pivoted to the palm base (26) using a dowel pin, the said swivel moves over a jaw (30);
b. a grub screw (28) positioned inside the dowel pin (27) arrests the axial movement of the said dowel pin (27) during swivel rotation;
c. a compression spring (25) housed in the palm base (26) ensures that swivel (22) and jaw (30) are locked in certain position;
d. a jaw (30) holding the spring (25) oscillates up and down and keeps the swivel (22) intact to the pivot axis;
e. a color pallet (24) with three slots t1, t2 and t3 coated with Blue, Green and Red colors respectively is fixed to the swivel (22) such that the said pallet moves along with the swivel (22), the said color pallet is fixed to swivel (22) with a snap fit;
f. a color sensor positioned on position sense PCB (23) records the reflecting light from slots t1, t2, t3 of color pallet (24) gives the position feedback of the thumb;
g. a position sense PCB (23) is fixed between palm housing and swivel to sense the position of the thumb finger (31);
h. a microcontroller PCB continuously reads the output of the position sense PCB (23); and
wherein, the position sense PCB (23) output is connected to microcontroller present on microcontroller PCB 41 which continuously reads the status of these pins. Whenever swivel (22) moves, the color pallet (24) also moves along with swivel (22) and color sensor present on position sense PCB (23) records the reflecting light and corresponding digital value of color is sent to microcontroller PCB (41) which detects the position of the thumb.

16. The thumb finger (31) swiveling system according to claim 15, wherein the thumb finger spring (32) is anchored to the swiveling system through a dowel pin (33). A housing is provided to incorporate a bearing (36), a pivot pin (35) and pivot screw (37) to fix the thumb finger (31) to the swivel (22).

17. The thumb finger (31) swiveling system according to claim 15, wherein the position sense PCB (23) output is connected to input pin of a microcontroller PCB (41) which continuously reads the data coming from color sensor present on the position sense PCB (23).

18. The thumb finger (31) swiveling system according to claim 15, wherein the algorithm running in microcontroller PCB detects the digital return of color sensor corresponding to the slots t1, t2 & t3 and decides the position of thumb finger.

19. The thumb finger (31) swiveling system according to claim 15, wherein the swivel (22) is proposed to have three locking positions namely L1, L2, L3. The digital return of color sensor for the slots t3, t2 & t1 corresponds to the locking positions L1, L2 & L3 respectively.

20. The thumb finger (31) swiveling system according to claim 15, wherein on applying rotational force on the swivel (22) in clockwise direction with respect to the reference locking position L1, user attains locking positions L2 & L3. The user can also rotate the swivel (22) in anti-clockwise direction to comeback to any required position.

21. The thumb finger (31) swiveling system according to claim 15, wherein a flexible Silicone rubber covering (34) is used to cover swiveling system near the base of thumb finger (31) to protect the mechanical components inside the palm base.

22. The fully functional bionic arm (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the palm base (26) housed with electronic circuit is connected to the fingers (18) through a knuckle plate (19), wherein the palm base includes:
a. a palm base (26) has mounting holes to fix linear actuators (39) and gripping pad (38), also provided with a provision to mount thumb finger (31) swiveling system;
b. the said palm base (26) houses four actuators (39), microcontroller PCB (41) and power circuitry PCB (42);
c. a silicone gripping pad (38) fixed to the palm base (26) provides the required grip force to the user while holding the objects;
d. a plurality of slots provided at the sides of top cover (40) holds the microcontroller PCB (41) and power circuitry PCB (42) firmly;
e. the said Palm base (26) and top cover (40) are fixed together using self-threading screws;
f. a knuckle area provided on top of the palm base (26) has holes for connecting the string (13), spring (1) and a knuckle plate (19); and
g. a Knuckle plate (19) is fixed to knuckle area using Philips cheese head screws.

23. The palm base (26) according to claim 22, wherein the four linear actuators (39) are placed inside the palm base (26) using a self-threading screw (70) that helps in opening and closing of the fingers.

24. The palm base (26) according to claim 22, wherein fingers (18) are actuated using linear actuators (39) that pull or push the string (13) that is passed through the hole of the sliding nut (51) and is crimped at the tip of the distal part (17).

25. The palm base (26) according to claim 22, wherein out of five fingers, actuation of little and ring fingers happens through single actuator and remaining fingers are actuated through individual actuators.

26. The palm base (26) according to claim 22, wherein the linear actuators (39) are configured in such a way that backward stroke of index, middle and little/ring finger actuators will result in closing of fingers, whereas forward stroke of thumb actuator will result in closing of thumb finger. Additional ribbings are provided in top cover (40) and palm base (26) to restrict axial and tilting motion of linear actuators (39).

27. The palm base (26) according to claim 22, wherein microcontroller PCB (41) has a temperature sensor to monitor the overall device temperature and alert the user in case of device over-heating.

28. The fully functional bionic arm (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the linear actuators (39) for opening and closing of the fingers (18) are equipped with:
a. a DC Motor (52) with encoders for position feedback that drives the spur gear (55) attached to its shaft is fixed to actuator body (49) using screws (53) & (54);
b. an actuator body (49) houses DC motor (52), lead screw (50) and sliding nut (51);
c. a driving spur gear (55) and a driven spur gear (46) are mounted onto DC motor (52) shaft for transferring the rotational motion of DC motor (52) to the lead screw (50);
d. a lead screw (50) with sliding nut (51) over it and support bearings (69 & 44) moves forward and backward;
e. a stop ring (43) to arrest the axial motion of lead screw (50);
f. a gear housing (45) consisting of spur gears (55) & (46) is fixed to the actuator body (49) using screws (56) & (57);
g. a bearing housing (47) is fixed to the actuator body (49) by using screws (48) & (58) which helps in load distribution;
h. the screw holes provided on the linear actuator (39) helps in fixing the actuator (39) to palm base (26) using screws (70); and
i. a sliding nut (51) with a hole has a rotational restriction inside the actuator body (49).

29. The fully functional bionic arm (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the distal (17) and proximal (2) part of the fingers (18) along with the thumb swiveling system (1200) and palm base (26) are assembled to the wrist device, wherein the wrist device (2000) comprises:
a. a wrist palm end (65) with a rectangular slot at one end that engages with palm base (26) co-axially;
b. a wrist forearm end (61) engages with forearm socket (74), four holes are provided in wrist forearm end (61) so that it can be fixed to forearm socket (74) using screws;
c. a wrist palm base (26) provided with linear actuators for the movement of said fingers is fixed to the fixed to the said wrist palm end (65) with screws/nuts;
d. a compression spring (64) housed in slot provided in wrist palm end (65) engages and disengages the indexing wedge (63);
e. an indexing wedge (63) slidably mounted inside the slot of the wrist palm end (65) locks the cog wheel (62) in a specific position;
f. a cogwheel (62) that is housed in wrist palm end (65) constitute seven locking positions to lock the wrist in specific position desired by the user;
g. a circlip (59) binds the wrist palm end (65) and wrist forearm end (61) from preventing lateral movement.
h. a power control board PCB (66) mounted on wrist forearm end (61) with screws (8) distributes power to various electronic components of the bionic hand;
i. the seven locking positions W1, W2, W3, W4, W5, W6 and W7 are arranged at an interval of 30 degrees and are adjustable and controlled by the user; and
j. the wrist palm end (65) is rotatable and the wrist forearm end (61) is fixed to the forearm socket.

30. The wrist device (2000) according to claim 29, wherein the wrist palm end (65) can be rotated in both clockwise and anti-cock wise directions.