Synthesis of Prosthesis Architectures and Design of Prosthetic Devices for Upper Limb Amputees

This chapter presents a procedure for the Determination of the Optimal Prosthesis Architecture for upper limb amputees (DOPA). The presented approach can consistently manage both the clinical aspects and the technical issues involved in the design of electromechanically actuated prostheses. The procedure is composed on one hand of algorithms useful for analyzing the patients’ requirements and on the other hand of algorithms that perform kinematic and kinetostatic simulations of several architectures of artificial arms attempting to fulfil important activities of daily living. The systematic evaluation of the prosthesis models’ performance can methodically guide designers in the synthesis of the optimal prosthesis that best suits the patients’ requirements.