Targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR) is a surgical procedure used to improve the control
of upper limb prostheses. Residual nerves from the amputated limb are transferred
to reinnervate new muscle targets that have otherwise lost their function. These reinnervated
muscles then serve as biological amplifiers of the amputated nerve motor signals,
allowing for more intuitive control of advanced prosthetic arms. Here the authors
provide a review of surgical techniques for TMR in patients with either transhumeral
or shoulder disarticulation amputations. They also discuss how TMR may act synergistically
with recent advances in prosthetic arm technologies to improve prosthesis controllability.
Discussion of TMR and prosthesis control is presented in the context of a 41-year-old
man with a left-side shoulder disarticulation and a right-side transhumeral amputation.
This patient underwent bilateral TMR surgery and was fit with advanced pattern-recognition
myoelectric prostheses.
Keywords
targeted muscle reinnervation - amputation - prosthetic limb - transhumeral amputation
- shoulder disarticulation