Swedish company Integrum granted her a job and IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems & Rehabilitation Engineering journal gave her the chance for the publication of research paper “Restoring Natural Forearm Rotation in Transradial Osseointegrated Amputees” resulting from her outstanding thesis on Transradial Osseointegrated Prosthesis with Neural Control and Sensory Feedback.

Irene Boni, as a biomedical engineering student at the University of Pisa, has started her collaborative research on a new artificial joint that can restore wrist-like movements for individuals with amputated forearms with Christian Cipriani and Marco Controzzi of the Institute of Biorobotics at Sant’Anna School in June 2017. They have worked on the EU funded DeTOP project for Dexterous Transradial Osseointegrated Prosthesis aimed at preserving the natural range of wrist rotation, which improves the performance of activities of daily living and reduces compensatory movements that potentially lead to secondary health problems over time.

Co-authors of the paper are researchers Marco Controzzi and Jason Millenaar, R&D Engineer at Integrum, led by Max Ortiz Catalan, Associate Professor at Chalmers University of Technology.  The DeTOP project within the Horizon 2020 framework programme for Research and Innovation developed a motorized osseointegrated implant placed into each of the two bones of the forearm – the ulnar and radius – and a wrist rotator artificial joint that acts as an interface between the two implants and the prosthetic hand. This interface allows for permanent communication with the human body providing a more precise and reliable neural control, regardless of limb position and environmental conditions. Minimizing the need for compensatory movements of the shoulder or torso, the prosthesis reduces disability and improves quality of life.

The study was published in IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems & Rehabilitation Engineering.