Workshop Proposal 1-Workshop title: Prosthetic limbs: from mechanical design to closed-loop control 2-Organizers Eng. Ph.D. Andrea Demofonti* Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi ONLUS
[email protected] Prof. Francesca Cordella* Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma
[email protected] Prof. Fabrizio Taffoni* Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma
[email protected] *: corresponding organizer 3-Workshop Format: Invitation-only 4-Workshop Objectives and Main Topics: Limb amputation is a traumatic event that can drastically reduce patients’ quality of life since it induces the interruption of the bidirectional communication between the missing limb and the central nervous system. The presence of a limb loss can induce the onset of several sensorimotor disabilities that hinder the patients during simple Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) execution. Therefore, patients with upper limb amputation can encounter difficulties in stabilizing grasp and performing manipulation tasks; meanwhile, lower limb amputees have to face off with deambulation disorders. This leads to a low prosthesis embodiment, an increase of metabolic and cognitive effort during their use and subsequently a high abandoning rate (i.e., 39% and 60% for upper and lower limb prosthesis, respectively). Notwithstanding the huge improvements in the development of advanced prosthetic limbs, several issues remain open regarding both the mechanical design and the interfacing with the peripheral nervous system. A pivotal consideration involves the comprehensive rethinking of prosthetic systems, integrating robotic and AI-based solutions. This includes the development of: i) prosthesis architectures and stump interfaces capable of ensuring anthropomorphic, lightweight, and comfortable configurations; ii) AI-driven interfaces with the efferent pathway to accurately decode the user’s motion intentions, enabling more natural and intuitive control; iii) sensory feedback restoration strategies capable of providing rich and reliable information to the use: iv) intelligent control algorithms to enhance the stability, adaptability, and overall reliability of the prosthetic devices during daily use. This workshop aims at presenting the current issues and at envisioning the upcoming breakthroughs in upper and lower limb prosthetic devices. The workshop will discuss the state-of-the-art of prosthesis mechanical design, closed loop control strategies and will point out current challenges and opportunities in the field of bionics. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following: • Mechanical design of prosthetic limbs • Highand low-level prosthesis control • Invasive and non-invasive interfaces • Closed loop limb prostheses • Somatosensory feedback for prosthetics 5-Keywords: Prosthetic limb; Bionics; Prosthesis design; Sensory feedback restoration; Prosthesis control. 6-Preferred Date: Saturday 18th October 2025 I-RIM Conference October 17-19, Rome, Italy ISBN: 9788894580570 10.5281/zenodo.17629628 35
7-List of speakers -Simona Crea (Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, SSSA): TBC -Matteo Laffranchi (Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, IIT): TBC -Gessica Della Bella (Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù, OPBG): TBC -Christian Cipriani (Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, SSSA): TBC TBC: To Be Confirmed 8-Expected number of attendees: Given the multidisciplinary nature of the field and the various topics covered in the proposed workshop, we can estimate an audience of approximately 30 participants with different scientific backgrounds. 9-Target audience: The workshop aims to gather researchers from various fields ranging from system control, robotics, artificial intelligence. Communication among the participants will give rise to critical discussions and certainly contribute to tackle unresolved issues. The topic proposed in this workshop brings together researchers working in mechanical design, motion intention recognition, control strategies and sensory feedback. 10-Workshop Outcomes: The discussions that will arise during the Q&A sessions and poster ones will promote collaboration among the attendant researchers. This will establish the foundation for potential joint publications and national/international projects. 11-Plan for Special Issue or Session: We plan to propose a special issue, inviting both the workshop speakers and the authors of accepted workshop papers to contribute by submitting an extended version of their presented work. Additionally, we will analyze the list of contributions presented at IRIM and directly contact authors working on related topics. Given the organizers’ strong expertise and active projects in this field, project partners will also be encouraged to participate. IEEE Transactions on Human-Machine Systems is currently considered as the target journal for this initiative. 12-Call for Extended Abstracts: We plan to issue a call for extended abstracts inviting researchers and practitioners to share their latest findings, preliminary results, or visionary ideas related to prosthetic systems, neural interfacing, and intelligent control. The call will be publicly disseminated through the workshop website, mailing lists, and relevant research networks. Submitted abstracts will be peer-reviewed by the workshop organizers and selected for presentation. Accepted contributions will also be considered as a basis for extended versions to be included in the planned special issue. 13-Workshop Webpage: https://irim3d2025-workshop.github.io/Prosthetics/index.html 14-Notes on Registration: The two free one-day registrations will be dedicated to two of the invited speakers. Additional speaker registrations will be managed through the standard registration process, with organizers providing support and guidance as needed. 36
