MISSION

Here is the motivation that drives our interest and design in mechanical prostheses: users would like a prosthesis that is easy to control, beautiful and comfortable.

• Control: Myoelectric devices are heavy and slow. Imagine thinking to grab a glass and waiting two seconds for your hand to actually grab it — that is the experience for an amputee with a myoelectric arm. This is a source of frustration. Often they have better success using the sound hand to improve their everyday performance. Mechanical devices are faster though less high-tech.
• Cosmetic/Beautiful: This is mainly the aesthetic aspect, in that the prosthesis should look natural or otherwise visually appealing
• Comfortable: Practically all of the externally powered devices are electrically driven. The drawbacks are noise and weight, because of the gearbox and battery. They are heavy and so are uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time. Generally prosthetics arm are suspended via a socket at the end of the stump, this  feels much heavier than the natural arm.

Elegant mechanical solutions to solve these problems already exist, but we have to admit that myoelectric solutions are fancier, they look more high-tech and attractive. Upper-limb prosthetic research is largely based on myoelectric devices, except in some cases, such as implantable electrodes, where the signal is directly detected from nerves. It is well know that surface electrodes suffer of high environmental dependency, variation of skin impedance due to sweat for instance. Furthermore the signal picked up from muscles is really noisy.

Additionally mechanical prosthesis give a direct biofeedback trough the harness. This allow the user to develop a better understanding on the way he is pinching an object. Limited are the cases where a feedback is sent to the nervous system in electrical devices.

Ultimately, mechanical prosthesis are less expensive. Some myoelectric solutions can cost as much as the price of a car! 
Many times, insurance does not cover the cost of the device or, will just partially cover the cost. Amputee are generally misled by media and they aspect to become “RoboCop” or a cyborg by buying a myolectric prosthesis. Unfortunately, many of them are disappointed to learn that the technology is not yet to the standards they expect. 

Our goal is to show to the research world that these efforts focused on myoelectrics are focused too much on the wrong direction. We believe that, with a mechanical, body-powered prosthesis, we can win the competition against many newer high-tech solutions.

We are not trying to be too conservative or stop myoelectric research, but we want people to realise there are alternative research directions that may still be just as promising. Researchers focuses on myoelectric at the moment because they are following a trend rather than focusing on simpler solutions for the benefit of the patient. Working with patients does not afford space for such scientist games.