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Sikdar and several other GMU researchers are studying ultrasound technology through grants from the Defense Department and the National Science Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUltrasound provides a much more detailed representation of the underlying muscle activity,\u201d said Michelle Harris-Love, an associate professor at GMU\u2019s bioengineering department. \u201cIt can record muscle activity over a larger area and at greater depth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The team is working on miniaturized ultrasound transducers, which are worn as a small band on the forearm or under the prosthetic. The device sends sound waves into the tissue and receives them back. The signals are analyzed using computer algorithms to recognize muscle activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c[Computer algorithms then] interpret this data and try to decide which muscle the amputee is trying to control and what movement that corresponds to,\u201d Sikdar said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During testing, patients learn how to control a virtual hand using the ultrasound method. For example, a patient would imagine moving his or her index finger, and it would move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn the initial testing, amputees have the ultrasound device placed on their residual limb and are asked to contract their arm muscles as if they were performing a specific movement,\u201d Harris-Love said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The goal is that this approach could be used to control the signal for a prosthetic hand, as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis would provide a much wider variety of possible movements that could be performed much more intuitively than is currently possible,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The current focus is on upper-body prosthetics, but Sikdar hopes they can eventually use this technology with lower-body prosthetics as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe anticipate in the next five years or so we can probably develop a commercial project,\u201d Sikdar said. \u201cWorking with amputees and seeing their current limitations and how we can improve their function is really motivating.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ultrasound technology more accurately pinpoints which specific movements the muscles are trying to accomplish.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":78713,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":12,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["your-military","news","good-news-report","newsletters"],"primary_category":"your-military"}}},"categories":[100,12,25,70],"tags":[],"coauthors":[2976],"class_list":["post-41375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-army"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"6X3XPBVBF5F5HA7GMHGWAMN4UU","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/2017\/11\/30\/ultrasound-technology-could-improve-use-of-prosthetics\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n