Abstract
Study on control cable system for functional upper-extremity prostheses has been offering since the last 50 years. There has been a great discussion about functional upper-extremity prostheses in Japan. However, expert of prosthesis and orthosis cast doubts in how it will be used in the field of medical and vocational rehabilitation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the current status and problems of functional upper-extremity prostheses. CiNii, Medical Online, and Ichushi Web were searched for key words upper-limb prostheses and functional upper-extremity, publications on the subject on and after August 8, 2013. In total, 109 articles were reviewed and analyzed. It should be noted that numerous articles were found on functional in using pulley unit and comfort in using the adjustable axilla loop. However, we found that a dearth of information is available on design and lightweight of functional upper-extremity prostheses. In consequence, the rests from this review indicates that further study is necessary to functional upper-extremity prostheses.
