Salford experts contribute to textbook giving global perspective on prosthetics research

The edited book brings together research from laboratories across the world, in order to offer a global perspective on advances in prosthetic hand control. Building on recent work, University of Salford researchers Professor Laurence Kenney, Dr Adam Galpin, Dr Alix Chadwell, Professor Malcolm Granat, Dr Sibylle Thies and Dr John Head collaborated with Professor Peter Kyberd (Portsmouth University) on a chapter focusing on methods for the evaluation of these devices. 

The chapter starts with an overview of the challenges of measurement in upper limb prosthetics, the conventional approaches to evaluation and their strengths and weaknesses. The next section reports on the evaluation tools, some of which were developed in Salford, and which have emerged from studies of human motor control; before finally moving on to consider novel methods, pioneered in Salford, which can be used to capture, in detail, the everyday upper limb behaviours of people in the real world. Finally, the chapter discusses the opportunities such real-world approaches open up around data analysis at scale.

Dr John Head has also contributed to a chapter on challenges in the field of children’s prosthetics.

The book is essential reading for anyone involved in research or undertaking advanced courses in prosthetic design and control.