A high-dexterity soft neuroprosthetic hand for daily activities

Abstract

Abstract Robotic prostheses are the primary replacement for upper-limb amputees’ lost hands. Although various neuroprosthetic hands have been developed, featuring both rigid and soft mechanisms, they typically offer grasping-oriented functionality with fewer degrees of freedom (DOFs, ≤6). Herein, we report a dexterous soft neuroprosthetic hand with 11 active DOFs that restores common grasping and fine manipulation, validated by four amputee subjects (aged 38–70 years, male and female). The neuroprosthetic hand integrates soft fingers with thumb-palm articulations for dexterity and adaptivity via a 2-channel myoelectric interface with amplitude-speed decoding, enabling amputees to outperform current prostheses in standardized tests and maintain control robustness. Furthermore, the neuroprosthetic hand improves amputees’ participation in daily activities and interactions, such as hair braiding, pill taking, scissor manipulation, car steering, and continuous bulb screwing, while reducing compensatory body movements. These results demonstrate that the high-dexterity soft-robotic hand enhances both prosthesis versatility and compliant interaction.