[Research Press Release] Robotics: Shared control boosts dexterity in bionic hands (Nature Communications)

The utility of bionic hands could be improved by sharing control between the autonomous hand and the user, according to a study published in Nature Communications. This approach is shown to improve the dexterity of the hand whilst reducing cognitive burden for users.

Commercially available bionic hand prostheses can replicate hand movements to help restore hand function for amputees. However, difficulty controlling the hand and the associated cognitive burden remain barriers to use for many.  Attempts to improve dexterity include the use of sensors to guide the level of grip used by the prosthetic hand; however, it can still be difficult for these devices to adapt to different tasks. An alternative approach is to switch between autonomous control and human control (using muscular or neural signals), but previous research has shown that switching between the two results in limited grasping ability. Continuously sharing control between human and machine is thought to improve functionality and make control more intuitive for the user. However, this has been difficult to implement.

Marshall Trout and colleagues developed and integrated sensors for proximity and pressure into the fingertips of a commercial prosthetic hand (TASKA Hand). This was combined with an automated model that continuously blends user intent (decoded from electrical signals from the skin or muscle) and machine intent (from an algorithm trained to estimate object distance using the sensor data). The system was tested with nine individuals with intact limbs and four amputee participants across multiple grasp types and real-world tasks, including holding and moving fragile objects such as eggs, picking up paper, and drinking from a mug. The control algorithm was able to accurately predict object distance and enable autonomous finger positioning. Users were also able to more easily modulate grip force and position with increased precision compared to solely human or machine control. Users reported that the dual-control system decreased cognitive burden associated with these everyday tasks and did not result in any increased physical burden.

Further research is needed to assess the long-term applicability of this method across a broad pool of potential users. However, this research suggests that a dual-control system between user and machine presents a potential route toward improved control and reduced burden for users of prosthetic hands.

• Article
• Open access
• Published: 09 December 2025

Trout, M.A., Mino, F.R., Olsen, C.D. et al. Shared human-machine control of an intelligent bionic hand improves grasping and decreases cognitive burden for transradial amputees. Nat Commun 16, 10418 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-65965-9

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