Christian Doppler Laboratory for Restoration of Extremity Function

As prosthetic development moves towards the goal of natural control, harnessing amputees’ inherent ability to learn new motor skills may enable proficiency. This manuscript describes a structured rehabilitation protocol, which includes imitation, repetition, and reinforcement learning strategies, for improved multifunctional prosthetic control.

Here, we present a protocol for rapid muscle fiber analyses, which allows improved staining quality, and thereby automatic acquisition and quantification of fiber populations using the freely available software ImageJ.

Optimal functional outcomes after bionic reconstruction in patients with global brachial plexus injury depend on a structured rehabilitation protocol. Surface electromyographic guided training may improve the amplitude, separation and consistency of EMG signals, which - after elective amputation of a functionless hand - control and drive a prosthetic hand.

Here, we present a protocol for the motor rehabilitation of patients with severe nerve injuries and selective nerve transfer surgery. It aims at restoring the motor function proposing several stages in patient education, early-stage therapy after surgery and interventions for rehabilitation after successful re-innervation of the nerve’s target.

This work presents a protocol to enhance prosthetic function after selective nerve transfer surgery. Rehabilitation interventions include patient information and selection, support of wound healing, cortical re-activation of sensory-motor areas of the upper limb, training of selective muscle activation, prosthetic handling in daily life, and regular follow-up assessments.