Wonderful MAEH3

Prosthetic and orthotic clinics, limb-fitting centres and upper-limb rehabilitation services fitting at elbow level and above are where the MAEH3 is used. Its wearers have an elbow disarticulation or a middle or long stump of the upper arm, and at those levels the prosthesis has to recreate the reach of the whole forearm. Powered hand, wrist and elbow movement gives the fitting team three joints to work with, each one answering to the wearer's muscles.

Much of the value shows up in the movements people make toward their own face. Occupational therapists can build training around the moments of the day that bring the hand to the head. Typical ones are lifting a cup for a sip of tea, carrying a forkful from plate to mouth, wiping the lips with a napkin and passing a comb through the hair before going out. Each task combines elbow flexion, a turn of the wrist and a closing grip, so practising it also teaches the wearer to sequence the three myoelectric movements.

At home, these are the routines a person usually wants to keep private and unhurried. A wearer can sit down to breakfast and manage a cup and a fork with the prosthesis while the sound hand butters toast or holds the newspaper. In the bathroom, the arm can hold a comb or brush at the head while the other hand steadies the parting or reaches for a mirror. Shaving, applying cream and adjusting glasses draw on the same reach toward the face.

Clinics fitting both elbow disarticulation and longer upper-arm residual limbs can keep one arm for both groups, offering three or five fingers per wearer. Workplaces and homes full of phones and electronics suit it too, because anti-electromagnetic interference is part of every MAEH3.

The hand reaches the face under the wearer's control

Elbow flexion, wrist rotation and hand action all respond to myoelectric signals. With every joint between the socket and the fingertips powered, the wearer can carry the hand up to the mouth or the hair without pre-setting the arm with the sound hand.

Drinking from a cup held at the lips

Raising a drink takes a lift at the elbow and a level hand. The MAEH3 supplies both, and the wrist can be adjusted as the cup rises so the rim meets the lips upright.

Food carried upward from the plate

A fork or spoon held by the prosthetic hand travels toward the mouth as the elbow flexes. That keeps the sound hand available for cutting, holding bread or steadying the bowl.

Combing and grooming at the head

Grooming asks the hand to work up at head height, at angles that change from stroke to stroke. Elbow flexion takes it to the hair, and a myoelectric wrist turn sets the comb or brush for each pass.

A wrist that turns either way through a full circle

Rotation runs through 360° to the right or to the left. Whatever angle a cup, a utensil or a hairbrush needs, the wearer reaches it with a muscle command at the wrist.

Steady control beside a phone

Anti-electromagnetic interference comes as standard on the arm. A mobile phone on the breakfast table or in a shirt pocket leaves the myoelectric control undisturbed.

Finger count chosen by the wearer

Three-finger and five-finger hands are both made. A wearer who values a working grip and one who wants a full hand outline at the dinner table can each be fitted on the same wrist and elbow.

Battery housing set by the fitting

A built-in battery is available as an option. The fitting team can choose it where the wearer prefers the power source housed inside the arm itself.

One arm across two fitting levels

Elbow disarticulation and middle or long upper-arm stumps both fall within the MAEH3's range. A clinic seeing both groups can standardise on a single component.

Three degrees of freedom

Hand, wrist and elbow are the three powered movements. Between them they cover gripping an object, orienting it and lifting it.

Myoelectric hand actions

Opening and closing of the hand respond to the electrical activity of muscles contracting in the residual limb.

360° wrist rotation

The wrist travels through a complete circle, so any hand orientation sits within its range.

Right and left turning

Rotation is available in both directions. A comb can be angled one way for the left side of the head and the other way for the right.

Myoelectric elbow flexion

Bending of the elbow joint runs under muscle control and raises the forearm toward the face.

Myoelectric elbow extension

Straightening is controlled the same way, returning the hand to table height or out toward an object.

Three-finger hand

A three-finger configuration closes around cup handles, cutlery and the shaft of a brush.

Five-finger hand

Wearers who want a complete hand form can have five fingers on the same wrist and elbow.

Anti-electromagnetic interference

This standard feature protects the myoelectric control from interference produced by sources such as mobile phones.

Optional built-in battery

A battery built into the arm is offered as an option for the fitting.

Aluminium in the structure

Aluminium forms part of the frame that carries the hand, wrist and elbow.

Carbon fibre in the structure

Carbon fibre makes up the rest of the construction alongside the aluminium.

Weight of 0.6–1.15 kg

The complete MAEH3 weighs 0.6–1.15 kg, or 600 g to 1,150 g.

Elbow disarticulation fitting

The arm is designed for wearers whose amputation passes through the elbow joint, where the full length of the humerus remains.

Middle and long upper-arm stumps

Residual limbs of middle and long length in the upper arm are also within its intended range.

The MAEH3 belongs with wearers who have an elbow disarticulation or a middle or long upper-arm stump and who want the prosthesis to take part in eating, drinking and grooming. Those tasks all end at the face, and reaching it means lifting, orienting and holding in one flowing movement. Here the elbow, the wrist and the hand each answer to muscle command, so the wearer composes that movement without help from the sound hand. Anti-electromagnetic interference keeps the control steady among phones, and the three-finger or five-finger hand lets the fitting follow personal preference. For a person whose priority is independence at the table and in front of the mirror, the MAEH3 brings three powered joints in aluminium and carbon fibre, weighing 0.6–1.15 kg.