Filed Under Artwork and Do It yourself Corner, Cable control, Design principles, Mechanical works, Prosthesis, Prosthetic hook, Prototype development, V2P Prehensor | Leave a Comment

[Article in German]

It appears that Otto Bock never introduced their 2008 release of the MovoHook prosthetic hook - it never surfaced in their catalogs nor on their websites. The product is inherently unpatentable as all principles used in that hook are already patented in old outdated patents. Also and since 2008, no other innovations of body powered prosthetics are seen from Otto Bock. Their body powered parts (wrist, bolts, cables, harness) are characterized by a high price but a quality that I find rather arguable (see other pages of this website). And a product such as the Michelangelo hand will not be constructed for body powered arms - not at any time within the foreseeable future.

Now, Otto Bock Switzerland has opened up the Otto Bock orthopedic technical competence center Dynortis in Lucerne, Switzerland. Their rather strangely attractive website has one eerie gap, something missing: there are explicitly no body powered parts offered. Since October 2009 when they opened that franchise, body powered arms are no longer part of what Otto Bock represents there!!

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Macht Otto Bock Platz - Markt frei fuer Eigenkraftprothesen?

Posted on May 5, 2010

[Article in English]

Offenbar hat Otto Bock weder den 2008 erstmals verkauften MovoHook in ihr Sortiment aufgenommen, noch irgendwelche weiteren bahnbrechenden Neuerungen in der Eigenkraftprothetik geleistet. Von ihrer nun laenger ueberdauernden Zweizughand hoert man genausowenig wie von neuen und belastbaren Materialien. Vielmehr zeichnen sich einige ihrer Eigenkraftpassteile ja durch einen zwar hohen Preis aber eine sagen wir einmal verhandlungsfragliche Qualitaet aus (MovoWrist, Standardhandgelenk, Zweizughand, Bolzen, Kabelklemmen, Kabel, Schulterbandage). Und ein Produkt wie die Michelangelo-Hand soll offenbar in absehbarer Zeit mit Sicherheit nicht fuer Eigenkraftprothesen gebaut werden.

Nun bietet Otto Bock Schweiz mit Otto Bock / Dynortis in Luzern eine Franchise mit einer Menge anscheinlichem Wohlgefuehl und einer sonderbaren, auffallenden Auswahl ihrer Produkte in Luzern eroeffnet - denn eins fehlt: Eigenkraftprothesen /Kabelzugprothesen werden von Otto Bock seit der Eroeffnung Oktober 2009 dort gar nicht mehr angeboten!

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Shoulder harness and cable protection III

Posted on March 14, 2010

Increase of terminal device loading to a cable load of ~ 110N (~12 kg) has caused some issues. The cable housing so far contained a metal spiral and a silicone tube. These would rub on each other, and due to getting pressed hard the metal spiral would elongate and deform. Also, I wanted better control over pronation and supination.

Several attempts to remedy the situation have been undertaken.

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Approximating the Carroll Quantitative Test for Upper Extremity Function comparing hooks [V2P, Dorrance, Otto Bock] and hands [Otto Bock, Becker Lock Grip]

Posted on February 8, 2010

I am not saying that the Carroll quantitative test for upper extremity function is necessarily the test most related to my own Activities of Daily Living (ADL). It is not.

But manufacturers are going above and beyond their call of duty to build “bionic” prostheses that seem to excite their engineers, the media and that by and large miss the point of functional prosthetic support while public money for research is wasted away on similarly useful gadgetry. Can you believe it? With a BeBionic hand you can even grab an apple? How amazing! With the iLimb, you can hold a water bottle! Wild! And the Otto Bock Michelangelo hand can also grab an apple. Oh, well.

So again amputees are mostly on their own as far as the real works are concerned.

On my way trying to get an understanding of the interplay between grip angles and usefulness I am trying to work towards better defining a modern test for relevant dexterity. And for that, it helps to play with a previously established test and then discuss maybe what it does well, what it does not show, and what it can be used for.

Furthermore, current advertising for “bionic” prostheses [Michelangelo, BeBionic, iLimb] usually show activities that any prosthesis can achieve and as such do not prove a particular point.

After reading through Carroll’s paper, I decided to implement the following tasks:

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Carnes arm - hand function

Posted on January 30, 2010

After I discussed the history of the Carnes arm, here is a description of one of the more intricate mechanisms found in later Carnes hands [4]. I find it absolutely fascinating to also consider how history seems to repeat itself.

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Industrial design issues - iron AND hook or V2P

Posted on December 8, 2009

The experience of ironing with a hook. It is also an industrial design issue as it appears. And while I can not offer perfect solutions, I sure can help detailing the process of handling my iron using my hook and - alternatively - using a special terminal device, the V2P prehensor.

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Becker Lock Grip hand - gloves

Posted on December 3, 2009

Prosthetic hands are usually equipped with expensive gloves. They look cheap, they feel cheap, they probably are made cheaply - but they cost a fortune. And if they don’t look cool, it’s not cool. Still:

• For cosmetic gloves, I prefer Regal Prosthesis gloves. I feel as if they outperform Otto Bock’s products any time. But then, cosmetic gloves only are so and so cool - not completely.

The Becker Lock Grip size 8 is so standard that several other options are available:

• For cool looking gloves, self made gloves are the thing to make and the thing to wear. If you are creative, why not use a skin photo of your own complexion or actually your other hand and have that printed on a shirt? Then use that fabric to make a glove. That type of fabric printing, these days, is dirt cheap.
• For technical gloves, I tried the Atlas 370 nitrile gloves and I like them a lot. For my size 8 hand, I use gloves sized S (small).

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