ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the challenges and benefits of rehabilitation robots that are directly mounted to the human body in the case of limb amputation to assist the user in daily life. It lists the different components of upper and lower limb prosthetic devices, discusses how these components are integrated with the human body to form a functional unit, and explains how user intent is used to direct the motion of prosthetic limbs. The chapter also explains how prosthetic devices are used in clinical practice, including insights into user acceptance and embodiment, and measures used to assess prosthesis use. It demonstrates high-level understanding of next-generation prosthetic technologies that are not yet seeing regular clinical application. These include advanced control paradigms, robotic devices with numerous controllable joints and actuators, novel brain-body-machine interfaces for prosthetic control, and new surgical innovations to more effectively merge prosthetic devices with the human body.
