Project objectives
A high rate of abandonment of the prosthesis is recorded for upper limb amputees, especially for proximal amputees. This is justified by numerous factors, including the impossibility of effectively controlling the prosthesis, the absence of a sensory and proprioceptive return, the constant sense of "strangeness" for the prosthesis, also due to the bulky sockets and uncomfortable fixing systems and intrusive.
Although in recent years there have been many advances in terms of revision and functionalization of the stump, surgical techniques in the amputation stump preparation are still unable to adequately support the robotic and bionic technologies applied to prosthetics. The research proceeds towards a tailor-made approach around the needs of the individual, aimed at restoring the dynamic, sensory and motor components to improve performance in daily life activities and consequently guarantee reintegration into the social and work context.
Re-Give Me Five (RGM5) aims to rethink the abutment to be functional and adaptable to the application of a modern concept robotic prosthesis. RGM5 has three objectives in parallel:
1. Carrying out ad hoc bionic surgery procedures for the revision and functionalization of the upper limb stump in order to adapt it to new generation prosthetic devices on an increasingly large number of patients. Carry out at least one clinical study of advanced bionic surgery, which goes beyond traditional surgical techniques, which is able to improve and combine the various new research techniques and adapt them to the specific requirements of the individual patient.
2. Return the proprioceptive information of the prosthesis to the user, through the study and application of both invasive methods and non-invasive strategies, which will be developed in the experimental phase of the project.
3. Define the guidelines for the revision of the amputation stump and disseminate them also through an intense scientific information and dissemination activity to sensitize the national health system (NHS) and the institutions on this new issue. |
