Fillauer MC ProPlus ETD

Published , Updated , by Wayne Williams in Category: Bionic Arm / Hand, Mobility
MC ProPlus ETD Feature Image

Fillauer’s MC ProPlus ETD builds on its corporate cousin, the MC Standard ETD, to add enhanced control capabilities and two new features.

What’s On This Page?

A Quick Look at the MC ProPlus ETD

We have not been able to find good videos of the MC ProPlus ETD performing a variety of tasks. Its videos focus instead on its unique control features, which we address in the Grip Patterns & Control System section. However, since the MC ProPlus ETD has the same mechanical design as the MC Standard ETD, the latter’s videos still provide a good demonstration of the ProPlus’s basic capabilities:

As you can see, this is a surprisingly versatile and dexterous device. It can open wide to grasp large objects yet has the precision and visibility to work with small objects. Additionally, it is:

  • rugged and durable;
  • water resistant (it can be submerged up to the wrist component);
  • powerful, with a grip force of up to 107 Newtons; and
  • lightweight, coming in at only 425 grams for the standard-length setup.

What can’t it do? It is not ideal for working with computers or other electronic gadgets, or for social tasks like shaking hands.

MC ProPlus ETD Features

Grip Patterns & Control System

The MC ProPlus ETD has only one grip pattern — to open and close one of its hooks (the other hook remains stationary). However, it has several settings that can significantly impact the device’s performance, including:

  • the source of control input, i.e. myoelectric versus non-myoelectric (e.g. switch, touchpad, etc.);
  • the number of signal channels being used to control the device (single vs dual);
  • the methodology used to differentiate between signals;
  • signal noise filtering;
  • the sensitivity of the device in response to signal strength.

For an in-depth description of these settings, please see the User Software section.

In addition to basic settings, the MC ProPlus ETD also offers an optional feature set called FLAG (Force Limiting, Auto Grasp) which is not available for the MC Standard ETD. This includes:

  • a force-limiting feature to prevent crushing objects due to excessive grip force;
  • an auto-grasp feature that automatically increases its grip on an object if the device detects an inadvertent open signal.

Both of these features are described in their own sections below.

Proportional Speed Control

The MC ProPlus ETD supports full proportional speed control.

Force-Limiting

This feature works by:

  1. Reducing the maximum closing speed to a user-defined %. Proportional speed control is still in effect; it is just the maximum speed that is limited.
  2. When the hooks encounter an object, the amount of force applied to that object will be limited to 9 Newtons. The device notifies the user that this has occurred by producing a short vibration. The user can then incrementally increase the force by repeating the close signal. This can be done to a default maximum of 10 times or 80 Newtons of force, though this maximum setting can be adjusted by the user.

In other words, this feature addresses the default behavior where it is easy to snap the hooks shut too quickly and with too much force, replacing it with a more controlled process, as demonstrated in this short video:

Auto-Grasp

The Auto-Grasp feature for the MC ProPlus ETD is not the same as the auto-grasp feature offered by some other bionic devices, where a sensor in one of the “fingertips” detects when an object is slipping and causes the device to automatically increase its grip force. Instead, the MC ProPlus ETD detects a quick, inadvertent open signal and responds with a single increment of the grip force to prevent the accidental drop of an object. Put another way, this feature merely compensates for an accidental open signal as compared to providing a true auto-grasp feature.

Sensory Feedback

The MC ProPlus ETD does not provide any sensory feedback to the end-user other than the short vibration generated as part of the Force-Limiting feature.

Wrist Design

The MC ProPlus ETD offers multiple wrist options, including:

  • a laminate ring for wrist disarticulation;
  • an industry-standard quick-disconnect wrist;
  • a flexion wrist with flexion/extension and four locking positions at 52, 26, 0, and -30 degrees;
  • a multi-flex wrist that flexes in all directions with locking positions at 30, 0, and -30 degrees of flexion/extension;
  • an in-hand wrist rotator; and
  • a powered flexion wrist with 153 degrees of powered flexion and two passive resistance settings.

This is the most comprehensive set of wrist options that we’ve seen offered by any ETD manufacturer.

The following video provides a good explanation of the value of some of these options:

Lift Capacity & Grip Strength

The MC ProPlus ETD can lift up to 22 kilograms in all directions.

It has a grip strength of 107 Newtons, which is quite high and is comparable to Ottobock’s AxonHook.

Having said that, grip force tends to be measured in different ways by different companies, so comparisons between the grip strengths of competing devices may not be reliable.

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Durability

With only one movable hook and a simple, rugged design, the MC ProPlus ETD should be considerably more durable than all multi-articulating bionic hands.

Also, the hooks are available in titanium for added strength (the standard hooks are made of aluminum).

However, we rely mostly on the results of our User Satisfaction Survey for an objective assessment of durability. And because this article and the associated survey are new, it will likely be a few months before we have sufficient participants to publish results.

Water and Dust Resistance

The MC ProPlus ETD has an IPX7 rating, meaning it is water resistant up to but not including its wrist.

The “X” in that rating means that the device has not been certified for dust. There is also no mention of dust or dirt in either the User Guide or the Prosthetist Guide.

We will ask Fillauer about this and update this section when we receive a reply.

Glove Options

There are no glove options for the MC ProPlus ETD.

Batteries

There is no mention of batteries in any of Fillauer’s documentation for the MC ProPlus ETD. We suspect that this is because the prosthetist is expected to integrate a battery into the socket to power the device. Alternatively, where an electric elbow is used, the battery power is typically supplied by the elbow unit.

User Software

All Fillauer ETD devices other than the MC Standard ETD and the MC Hand enjoy one of the most comprehensive software applications that we’ve seen for a bionic device’s setup and configuration. The application is used by both prosthetists and end-users — it just disables some of the more advanced functions for end-users. In fact, it is so comprehensive that we’re going to defer the description of it to this lengthy video (31 minutes):

Suitability for Above-the-Elbow Solutions

The MC ProPlus ETD can participate in above-the-elbow bionic solutions involving components from many different manufacturers.

Price

We do not currently have good pricing information on the MC ProPlus ETD. If you have this information, please share it with us through our contact form.

For a complete list of prices for upper-limb ETDs, please see our ETD price list.

Warranty

The MC ProPlus ETD offers a 1-year standard warranty against defects in materials or workmanship under normal use.

Note that this is lower than the 2-year warranty offered by Ottobock for its ETD devices.

User Feedback Survey & Results

Survey

Are you currently using an MC ProPlus ETD or have you used it in the past?

If so, why not help others by sharing your experiences in this quick survey:

Results

We do not yet have a sufficient number of survey participants to publish fair and accurate results for the MC ProPlus ETD.

As soon as we do, we’ll update this section.

Considerations Before Buying an MC ProPlus ETD

In general, we are deeply impressed with Fillauer’s upper-limb ETD options. One immediate consideration for prospective end-users is which ETD to choose. If an end-user is after a device that looks like a hand, then Fillauer’s options are its Motion Control MC Hand and its MC ProPlus Hand, which should both be compared to Ottobock’s SensorHand Speed and VariPlus Speed devices.

If an end-user wants an electric hook, then Fillauer’s ProPlus MC ETD2 or Ottobock’s AxonHook should be their first options, as these two devices represent the latest electric hooks from these two leading prosthetics companies. To be perfectly honest, we don’t know if Fillauer is continuing to actively market its earlier-generation electric hooks (this one, i.e. the MC ProPlus ETD, and the MC Standard ETD). We cover them because they remain in Fillauer’s online catalog. We will ask Fillauer this question and update this section when we receive a reply.

Beyond these statements, we are reserving judgment on the MC ProPlus ETD until we hear back from end-users through our User Satisfaction Survey.

For a list of competitor devices, see all upper-limb ETDs.

For a comprehensive description of all current upper-limb technologies, devices, and research, see our complete guide.

Click here for more information on Fillauer’s Upper-Limb Myoelectric Devices.