NEURAL PROSTHETICS

CHAPTER-1
INTRODUCTION

1.1 What is Prosthetics?

Prosthesis is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost
through trauma, disease, or congenital conditions. Prosthetic amputee rehabilitation is primarily
coordinated by a prosthetics and an inter-disciplinary team of health care professionals including
surgeons, physical therapists, and occupational therapists.
Transradial prosthesis (from Ancient Greek prosthesis, "addition, application,
attachment") is an artificial limb that replaces an arm missing below the elbow. Two main types
of prosthetics are available.

Cable operated limbs work by attaching a harness.

Cable around the opposite shoulder of the damaged arm.

1.2 History
The first cochlear implant dates back to 1957. Other landmarks include the first motor prosthesis
for foot drop in hemiplegic in 1961, the first auditory brainstem implant in 1977 and a peripheral
nerve bridge implanted into spinal cord of adult rat in 1981. Paraplegics were helped in standing
with a lumbar anterior root implant (1988) and in walking with Functional Electrical Stimulation
(FES). Regarding the development of electrodes implanted in the brain, an early difficulty was
reliably locating the electrodes, originally done by inserting the electrodes with needles and
breaking off the needles at the desired depth. Recent systems utilize more advanced probes, such
as those used in deep brain stimulation to alleviate the symptoms of Parkinson's disease.
Over the past four decades, research in Neuroprosthetic has generated a handful of clinical
successes and has gained lasting acceptance in the scientific community noteworthy advances
have been made.
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1.3 Neural Prosthetics

Neural Prosthetics (also called Neuroprosthetics) is a discipline related to neuroscience and
biomedical engineering concerned with developing neural prostheses, artificial implantable
devices to replace or improve the function of an impaired nervous system. Neuroprosthetics are
the set of physical devices that interact with the brain or other neural tissue to augment, restore,
or otherwise impact function. Neuroprosthetics are electrical stimulation technologies that
replace or assist damaged or malfunctioning neuromuscular organ systems and attempt to restore
normal body processes, create or improve function, and/or reduce pain. These systems are either
implanted or worn externally on the body. Such assistive devices range from intramuscular
stimulation systems designed to limit limb atrophy in paralysis, to implanted bladder voiding
systems and more complex implanted neuromuscular control. The process of transitioning this
technology into a clinically useful device will require two parallel paths of research.
In the first path, experimental paradigms involving microelectrode array recordings in behaving
animals will be developed in conjunction with signal processing techniques for studying the
unknown aspects of neural coding and functional neurophysiology. These signal processing
techniques

will

then

be

implemented

in

Portable,

low-power, wireless

hardware.

Neuroprosthetics is an area of intense scientific and clinical interest and rapid progress. The
word prosthesis is derived from the Greek word for addition. A breakdown of the word
includes pros meaning to, and thesis, meaning a placing. Neuroprosthetic are in their
infancy just now, but they offer two things that are truly wonderful:
1. Bypassing the body, and letting the mind interface directly with VR, for the ultimate
immersive experience the virtual body becomes as the normal functioning body.
2. Augmented body parts will be able to be fitted to the body, and controlled by the brain as
if you were born with them after a little training, without conscious thought.
In other words it can be says that working is like BRAIN TO MACHINE interface.

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Prosthesis is a functional replacement for an amputated or congenitally malformed or missing

limb. Prosthetists are responsible for the prescription, design and management of a prosthetic
device. In most cases, the prosthetist begins by taking a plaster cast of the patients affected limb.
Lightweight, high-strength thermoplastics are custom-formed to this model of the patient.
Cutting-edge materials such as carbon fiber, titanium and Kevlar provide strength and
durability while making the new prosthesis lighter. More sophisticated prostheses are equipped
with advanced electronics, providing additional stability and control.

Fig (i): Artificial wooden Hand

Fig (ii): Bionic Hand

A prosthetic Artificial hand is designed for duplicating the exact motions of the human hand. It
uses nerve endings to replicate the sensory-motor abilities in the hand. Prosthetic hands are
available in both voluntary opening and voluntary closing versions and because of their more
complex mechanics and cosmetic glove covering require a relatively large activation force,
which, depending on the type of harness used, may be uncomfortable. Neuroprosthetics deals
with the planting of artificial devices straight onto the brainstem, or into the brain itself.
Neuroprosthetic devices are implanted permanently or semi-permanently into the body and
interface directly with the chemical or electrical neural signals within the brain or central nervous
system.

CHAPTER-2
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IMPLEMENTATION OF NEURO ROBOTICS
Neurorobotics, a combined study of neuroscience, robotics, and artificial intelligence, is the
science and technology of embodied autonomous neural systems. Neural systems include braininspired algorithms (e.g. connectionist networks), computational models of biological neural
networks (e.g. artificial spiking neuralnetworks, large-scale simulations of neural microcircuits)
and actual biological systems (e.g. in vivo and in vitro neural nets). Such neural systems can be
embodied in machines with mechanic or any other forms of physical actuation. This includes
robots, prosthetic or wearable systems but at also, at smaller scale, micro-machines and, at the
larger scales, furniture and infrastructures.
Neurorobotics is that branch of neuroscience with robotics, which deals with the study and
application of science and technology of embodied autonomous neural systems like braininspired algorithms. At its core, neurorobotics is based on the idea that the brain is embodied and
the body is embedded in the environment. Therefore, most neurorobots are required to function
in the real world, as opposed to a simulated environment.

2.1 MAJOR CLASSES OF NEUROROBOTIC MODELS:

Neurorobots can be divided into various major classes based on the robot's purpose. Each class is
designed to implement a specific mechanism of interest for study. The three common types of
neurorobots are those used to (i) study motor control, (ii) memory, and (iii) action selection.

2.1.1 Locomotion and motor control:

Neurorobots are often used to study motor feedback and control systems, and have proved their
merit in developing controllers for robots. Locomotion is modeled by a number of neurologically
inspired theories on the action of motor systems. Locomotion control has been mimicked using
models or central pattern generators, clumps of neurons capable of driving repetitive behavior, to
make four-legged walking robots. Other groups have expanded the idea of combining
rudimentary control systems into a hierarchical set of simple autonomous systems. These
systems can formulate complex movements from a combination of these rudimentary subsets.
This theory of motor action is based on the organization of cortical columns, which progressively
integrate from simple sensory input into a complex afferent signals, or from complex motor
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programs to simple controls for each muscle fiber in efferent signals, forming a similar
hierarchical structure.
Another method for motor control uses learned error correction and predictive controls to form a
sort of simulated muscle memory. In this model, awkward, random, and error-prone movements
are corrected for using error feedback to produce smooth and accurate movements over time. The
controller learns to create the correct control signal by predicting the error. Using these ideas,
robots have been designed which can learn to produce adaptive arm movements or to avoid
obstacles

in

course.

Fig : Motor Controlling for movement of hand

2.1.2 Learning and memory systems:

Fig : Memory Segment

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Robots designed to test theories of animal memory systems. Many studies currently examine the
memory system of rats, particularly the rat hippocampus, dealing with place cells, which fire for
a specific location that has been learned. Systems modeled after the rat hippocampus is generally
able to learn mental maps of the environment, including recognizing landmarks and associating
behaviors with them, allowing them to predict the upcoming obstacles and landmarks. Another
study has produced a robot based on the proposed learning paradigm of barn owls for orientation
and localization based on primarily auditory, but also visual stimuli. The hypothesized method
involves synaptic plasticity and neuromodulation,a mostly chemical effect in which reward
neurotransmitters such as dopamine or serotonin affect the firing sensitivity of a neuron to be
sharper. The robot used in the study adequately matched the behavior of barn owls.
Neurorobots in these studies are presented with simple mazes or patterns to learn. Some of the
problems presented to the neurorobot include recognition of symbols, colors, or other patterns
and execute simple actions based on the pattern. In the case of the barn owl simulation, the robot
had to determine its location and direction to navigate in its environment.

2.1.3 Action selection and value systems:

Fig(i): Sensing Process

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Action selection studies deal with negative or positive weighting to an action and its outcome.
Neurorobots can and have been used to study *simple* ethical interactions, such as the classical
thought experiment where there are more people than a life raft can hold, and someone must
leave the boat to save the rest. However, more neurorobots used in the study of action selection
contend with much simpler persuasions such as self-preservation or perpetuation of the
population of robots in the study. These neurorobots are modeled after the neuromodulation of
synapses to encourage circuits with positive results. In biological systems, neurotransmitters
such as dopamine or acetylcholine positively reinforce neural signals that are beneficial. One
study of such interaction involved the robot Darwin VII, which used visual, auditory, and a
simulated taste input to "eat" conductive metal blocks. The arbitrarily chosen good blocks had a
striped pattern on them while the bad blocks had a circular shape on them. The taste sense was
simulated by conductivity of the blocks. The robot had positive and negative feedbacks to the
taste based on its level of conductivity. The researchers observed the robot to see how it learned
its action selection behaviors based on the inputs it had. Other studies have used herds of small
robots which feed on batteries strewn about the room, and communicate its findings to other
robots.

Fig. Finger movements functionality

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2.2 PROSTHETIC HAND

A prosthetic artificial hand is designed for duplicating the exact motions of the human hand. It
uses nerve endings to replicate the sensory-motor abilities in the hand.

The Prosthetic devices that are commercially made for the public have really evolved over the
years. The ability to grasp items. The design of the prosthetic hand was limited to the process of
two or three joints. Single motor drive acting concurrently on the metacarpo - phalangeal (MP)
joints.

The metacarpo-phalangeal joint is the articulation between the convex metacarpal head
proximally and the concave base of the first phalanx distally. These articulations are condyloid
with the movements of flexion / extension and abduction / adduction. . These joints can be found
in the thumb, the index, and the middle finger. The other joints can only bend submissively.
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2.2.1 SPECIFICATIONS OF PROSTHETIC HAND

1.
2.
3.
4.

Natural grasping capability

Natural appearance (cosmetic appearance)
Secure grasping and sensory feedback
4.Natural command interface.

2.2.2 FINGER GRASPING INNOVATION

Under actuation: Reduction of actuators and sensors
The only down side of under actuation is that it significantly reduces the strength
of the hand, but increases other capabilities.

2.2.3 FUTURE OF HAND PROSTHETICS

1. Nano plastics are used to connect the prosthetic hand to nerve endings.
2. With the blast in the technology, well see that the field will be widening, and the
capabilities of the prosthetic hand will be growing
3. Also a prosthetic could possibly bring back the sense of touch into a hand or
finger.

2.3 IMPLICATIONS OF NEURO SCIENCE

Neuroscientists benefit from neurorobotics because it provides a blank slate to test various
possible methods of brain function in a controlled and testable environment. Furthermore, while
the robots are more simplified versions of the systems they emulate, they are more specific,
allowing more direct testing of the issue at hand. They also have the benefit of being accessible
at all times, while it is much more difficult to monitor even large portions of a brain while the
animal is active, let alone individual neurons.
With subject of neuroscience growing as it has, numerous neural treatments have emerged, from
pharmaceuticals to neural rehabilitation. Progress is dependent on an intricate understanding of
the brain and how exactly it functions. It is very difficult to study the brain, especially in humans
due to the danger associated with cranial surgeries. Therefore, the use of technology to fill the
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void of testable subjects is vital. Neurorobots accomplish exactly this, improving the range of
tests and experiments that can be performed in the study of neural processes.

CHAPTER 3
BIONIC EYE

3.1 INTRODUCTION
BIOTECHNOLOGY has become the fastest-growing area of scientific research, with inventions
of new devices. Technology has done wonders which help the mankind. Prosthetics use to help
overcome handicaps. A training system called brain port is letting people with visual and balance
disorders bypass their damaged sensory organs and instead send information to their brain
through the tongue. Now, a company called second sight has received FDA approval to begin
U.S. trials of retinal implant system that gives blind people a degree of vision.

3.1.1 THE HUMAN EYE

We are able to see because light from an object can move through space and reach our eyes.
Once light reaches our eyes, signals are sent to our brain, and our brain deciphers the information
in order to detect the appearance, location and movement of the objects we are sighting at.

Fig (i): HOW HUMAN EYE WORKS

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The whole process, as complex as it is, would not be possible if it were not for the presence of
light. Without light, there is no world. The human eye is the organ which gives us the sense of
sight, it allows us to learn about the surrounding world than any of the other senses.
The eyeball is present in a protective cone-shaped cavity in the skull called the orbit or socket
and measures approximately one inch in diameter. The orbit is covered by layers of soft, fatty
tissue which protect the eye and enable it to turn easily. The important part of an eye is retina.
The retina lies at the back of the eye and it acts as though the film in a camera act by receiving
and processing everything.

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