While much attention is being given in the application of advanced technologies to improve upper extremity prostheses, traditional body-powered prostheses still remain the most popular by people with an amputation. A body-powered prosthesis provides the user with a reasonable solution for limb loss given their simple design, lower maintenance and initial cost. The two major types of body-powered prosthesis use either voluntary opening or voluntary closing control of the terminal device (or prehensor) used for holding and manipulating objects. What differentiates these two types of control is the relationship between the muscular force used to apply tension on the cable attached to the prehensor and the force produced by the prehensor. It has been argued that the voluntary closing prosthesis has more optimal compatibility between the muscle force and grip force of the prehensor. As a result, it may provide an advantage to the user in tasks requiring the control of grip force. To determine the effectiveness of the voluntary closing and voluntary opening prosthesis, we asked a person with a congenital quadruple limb deficiency who is right hand dominant, and that uses voluntary opening prostheses to participate in a study investigating grip force control. The participant was required to match different target grip forces displayed on a computer monitor by manipulating the pressure exerted on a hand dynamometer using either a voluntary closing or voluntary opening prosthesis. The participant only had previous experience with a voluntary opening prosthesis. The results showed that in several measures, the participant performed better with the voluntary closing prosthesis. These results provided support for the muscular force-grip force compatibility hypothesis.
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