MSMS software for VR simulations of neural prostheses and patient training and rehabilitation.

In the increasingly complex prosthetic limbs for upper extremity amputees, more mechanical degrees of freedom are combined with various neural commands to produce versatile human-like movements. Development, testing, and fitting of such neural prosthetic systems and training patients to control them effectively are complex processes that cannot be performed efficiently or safely by ad hoc and trial-and-error approaches. We have developed a software tool known as MSMS to enable researchers and engineers to simulate the movement of these neural prostheses and evaluate their performance before they are built and to train the patients in virtual simulation environments to operate their prostheses before receiving them. Further, MSMS facilitates development of interactive virtual reality applications for training, rehabilitation, and treatment of patients suffering from movement disorders.