Wireless Non-Invasive Advanced Control of Microprocessor Prostheses and Orthoses

There are several current and imminent orthotic and prosthetic (OandP) fitting scenarios that would greatly benefit from the ability to wirelessly collect and transmit physiological information from the user. Both upper- and lower- limb OandP fittings that: 1) use osseointegration, 2) have cable management issues, and 3) could benefit from physiological information from locations proximal to the prosthetic socket/orthosis, would all be strong candidates to utilize wireless physiological sensors. Therefore, Liberating Technologies Inc. (LTI), along with its partners at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, aim to create the Asterisk system: a wireless toolkit to allow the interface of current and future physiological sensors with orthotic and prosthetic systems. In Phase 1 we will define, design, build and test the prototype system to demonstrate feasibility of the system. In addition, we will develop methods to substantially decrease the power consumption related to the collection and wireless transmission of high resolution and high sampling rate electromyographic (EMG) signals. The demonstration will include the use of both analog and digital sensors transmitting data at different data rates, with system latencies that are acceptable for prosthesis control, and interfacing with currently available commercial prosthetic devices.