Development of Noninvasive Electroencephalogram Brain Sensor Actuated Motorized Prosthetic Arm to Support Disabled People

We demonstrate the design and development of a wireless electroencephalogram (EEG) brain sensor actuated motorized prosthetic arm. The prosthetic arm can be opened or closed by converting the EEG signals to appropriate mechanical movements of the arm actuator. To control the prosthetic arm, integrated with the disabled arm, an amputee simply needs to wire the EEG brain sensor with his head and keep his concentration to open or close the prosthetic arm. Depending on the concentration level, the EEG brain sensor sends associated EEG signals to the control unit that converts the digital EEG signals to movement commands to reach one of the three predefined states: rest state, semi-open/close state, and full-open/close state. The prosthetic arm can hold and carry a large variety of items of dynamic size and shapes. The prosthetic arm can carry maximum 2 kilograms of load. The rechargeable lithium-polymer (Li-Po) battery, connected with the prosthetic arm, enables long time operation of the prosthetic arm without recharging. The size and shape of the prosthetic arm can be designed depending on the current status of any disabled arm. The prosthetic arm has excellent durability due to the robust construction material. Most importantly, the cost of the prosthetic arm is just within $ 900. We believe that, our developed prosthetic arm will create opportunity for the disabled people of the developing countries.