Disclosed herein a system and a method to detect an amputee's hand muscles movements for controlling an artificial limb prosthesis. The system may comprise a plurality of passive tag positions and wearable band with a plurality of on-board position readers. The plurality of on-board position readers may be configured to capture data associated with a first plurality of passive tags positions at a first moment, and capture data associated with a second plurality of passive tags positions at a second moment. The system may further include one or more processors configured to detect at least one of the muscle contraction, the muscle relaxation, and the muscle inactivity based on the data captured at the first moment and at the second moment, and thereby control the artificial hand prosthesis movements responsive to detection at least one of the muscle contraction, the muscle relaxation, and the muscle inactivity.

An upper extremity prosthesis may include a prosthetic hand including a prosthetic thumb having a base and a tip, and a prosthetic index finger having a base and a tip. Actuators may be coupled to the upper extremity prosthesis. Prosthetic flexion tendons may have first ends operably coupled to the actuators and second ends coupled to the tips of the thumb and the index finger. Biasing systems may be operably coupled to the prosthetic thumb and the index finger. Upon actuation of the actuators in a first direction, the prosthetic flexion tendons cause the thumb and index finger to flex. Upon actuation of the linear actuators in a second direction opposite the first direction, the biasing systems cause the thumb and index finger to extend.

A multi-articulated link knee joint includes: a knee unit in which an upper link unit rotates relative to a lower link unit by a multi-articulated link mechanism including a plurality of link units including the upper link unit and the lower link unit; a cylinder device for assisting the motion of the knee unit and moving in accordance with the rotation of the upper link unit; a position detector for detecting the distance from the lower link unit to the cylinder device; and an angle detector for obtaining the bending angle of the knee unit from the detected distance from the cylinder device.

A multi-articulated link knee joint includes: a knee unit in which an upper link unit rotates relative to a lower link unit by a multi-articulated link mechanism including a plurality of link units including the upper link unit and the lower link unit; a cylinder device for assisting the motion of the knee unit and moving in accordance with the rotation of the upper link unit; a position detector for detecting the distance from the lower link unit to the cylinder device; and an angle detector for obtaining the bending angle of the knee unit from the detected distance from the cylinder device.

A hydraulic prosthetic device has upper and lower portions and a hydraulic cylinder coupled thereto for damping relative motion. The cylinder has a movable piston and a first and second chamber. A three-way valve includes a housing and a movable portion cooperating to define a hydraulic circuit. The movable portion has a master port, an inlet port and an outlet port, and the housing has an inlet opening, an outlet opening, and a master opening each positioned to fluidly communicate with the respective port. The inlet port and/or the inlet opening, and the outlet port and/or the outlet opening are shaped such that movement of the movable portion of the valve relative to the housing varies a resistance to the fluid flow related to movement or the prosthetic portions in both directions.

Prosthetic implant devices and related methods are provided. The prosthetic implant devices include an internal component and an external component. The internal component has an implant portion associated with one or more rare earth magnets. The internal component being of a size and shape suitable for surgical implantation into the residual limb of the amputee. The one or more rare earth magnets generate at least one magnetic field. The external component having a prosthetic piston associated with a plurality of magnetic elements and a prosthetic cup associated with a magnetic array. The magnet elements of the prosthetic piston being in adaptable magnetic association with the at least one magnetic field generated by the one or more rare earth magnets.

A magnetic locking actuator for a prosthetic or orthotic device is provided. The actuator includes a first component including one or more magnets and a second component including one or more magnets. The first and second components are coupled to separate portions of the device. The magnets allow for adjustment of a length of the actuator to adjust an angular orientation of the first and second portions of the device. When magnets in the second component are aligned with magnets in the first component having an opposite polarity, a position of the second component is fixed relative to the first component, locking the actuator. When magnets in the second component are not aligned with magnets in the first component having the opposite polarity, the position of the second component is adjustable relative to the first component, thereby allowing adjustment of the height of the actuator.

A method for operating an accessory device to guide the placement of an ostomy appliance on a user having a stoma. The method can include capturing an image or a sequence of images of the user applying the ostomy appliance to the user's body, processing the captured image or sequence of images, including: identifying a location of the stoma in one or more of the captured image or sequence of images, identifying a location of the ostomy appliance in one or more of the captured image or sequence of images, and generating location indicia representative of the location of the ostomy appliance with respect to the stoma in one or more of the captured image or sequence of images. A visual display including the location indicia associated with one or more of the captured image or sequence of images can be provided.

An orthopedic device with an end effector and a driving device, which is configured to drive the end effector by transferring a torque from the driving device to the end effector, wherein the orthopedic device features an overload protection that is configured to only prevent a transmission of a torque from the end effector to the driving device up to a threshold torque in at least one direction, and the overload protection includes at least a first coupling element and a second coupling element, which can be rotated relative to one another and which are coupled magnetically.

A physiological feature of a subject is monitored by implanting a plurality of targets, such as magnets, and detecting at least one change in a physical property of the targets, followed by modifying a physiological feature of the subject in response to a change of state detected by the change in physical property detected in the targets. Cutaneous sensory feedback and proprioceptive feedback in a subject, as well as selective stimulation of axons or nerve fascicles of a neuron of a subject are provided.