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T cell activation is critical for the initiation of the adaptive immune response against both pathogens and malignant cells. This process depends on a complex set of finely tuned interactions, not only between the T cell receptor (TCR) and peptide-MHC complexes, but also between numerous accessory molecules. Chapter 2 of this thesis examines CD6, a transmembrane glycoprotein predominantly found on the surface of T cells, and its interaction with CD166, another transmembrane glycoprotein found on the surface of antigen presenting cells (APCs), amongst others. This interaction is required for optimal T cell activation. I have solved the X-ray crystal structures of the three extracellular SRCR domains of CD6 and the two membrane distal IgSF domains of CD166. In collaboration with colleagues, the ligand binding sites on both CD6 and CD166 have been further defined. We have also shown that a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in CD6 caused glycosylation, hindering the CD6/CD166 interaction. Finally, native mass spectrometry revealed competition between the heterophilic CD6/CD166 interaction and the homophilic CD166 interaction.

Through an analysis of the 1970 British Birth Cohort Study, this thesis explores the intersections between food, class, space, and the life course. I show that different class groups consume different foods, and argue that this provides evidence for an ongoing homology between class and cultural consumption. The broad divide I uncover is between indulgent eating patterns on the part of working classes, and ascetic consumption patterns on the part of the middle classes. I show how, over the period from 1986 to 2000, a new post-Fordist pattern of consumption has developed (the ‘Ascetic plus’ eating pattern) amongst the cohort under investigation. I am also able to demonstrate that socialization in childhood, as well as cultural capital, appear to retain important roles in structuring eating patterns, but that the importance of socialization seems to vary depending on the trajectory of individuals’ life courses. Upwardly socially and geographically mobile people are the individuals who are most likely to adhere to the new post-Fordist eating pattern and because of this, I argue that these groups may the most able to break away from the structural moorings of class based consumption. I propose that this finding could be explained with reference to unequal distribution of reserves of reflexivity – these particular ‘mobile’ segments of the middle class may have greater access to individualized forms of identity.

This thesis is concerned with the mathematical modelling of the respiratory and circulatory systems. Equations have been written for the mechanical properties of the two systems and for pulmonary gas exchange. The model equations are dynamic and are represented in state space form. In particular the thesis contains equations for the mechanical coupling between the two systems. Numerical solutions of the system equations have been obtained, and show the effects of changes in parameter values, such as tidal volume, on the circulatory system during artificial ventilation of the lungs. Criterion functions have been formulated which contain squared volume and work terms. Minimisation of these functions using dynamic programming techniques and system equations produce muscle pressures which are exponential functions of time. It is considered that the respiratory and cardiac muscles behave as pumps which are optimally controlled. Model equations for the circulatory system also include equations for the coronary vasculature. Starlings Law of the heart has been investigated and simulated results show good agreement with those of Starling.

The emergence of some technological systems and smart devices that realize home-based or tele rehabilitation has exposed alternative delivery forms to promote patients' hand recovery from common physiological conditions. However, due to the motion difficulty of most patients with an impaired hand, extra effort should be made to effectively stimulate their engagement without compromising the clinical outcomes. The discussion about home-based medical equipment in both the market and academic realms indicates that a good recovery outcome of a home-based rehabilitation device seems to be closely related to the ease of use. The purpose of the research presented in this thesis is to investigate the feasibility of home-based hand rehabilitation with emphasis on ease of use. Towards this target, measurement techniques compatible with the overall aim are explored and selected. The framework of the measuring system is based on a MGC3030 capacitive sensing microcontroller, which allows the noncontact form of measurement of small fingers movements and potentially the thumb. This thesis reports the following parts to improve the stability and accuracy of the targeted measuring techniques: • A Finite Element Method simulation based on the MGC3030 electrode stackup design was carried out to guide the practical design of the electrodes. The original simulation model and the modified design with extra ground electrodes placed in between each pair of receive electrodes were compared and analysed. • Algorithm compensation introduced nonlinear fitted equations to describe the inherent relationship between distance of finger motion and voltage signals. The signals were detected both in the receive electrode underneath the moving finger and the neighbouring ones, in an electrical field generated by an electrode layer stack-up design based on MGC3030 of two fingers' motion (index finger together with the middle finger). • A validation experiments was conducted to evaluate the prediction model on multi-finger noncontact measuring under laboratory conditions. Twenty-three healthy subjects with normal hand and finger functions participated. An independent near field distance measurement was developed and compared to the output from an optical sensor.

The dielectric properties of skin are of particular interest in the fields of Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES), diagnostic procedures such as Electrocardiogram and cancer treatment. This thesis is concerned primarily with the effect of hydration and electroporation on skin impedance when signals used in FES are applied. Skin impedance has typically been represented by an equivalent circuit of varying complexities in the literature; however this approach does not incorporate the effects of hydration and electroporation. Alternatives to this include simulation of skin cells undergoing electrical stimulation and direct experimentation either in vitro or in vivo. This thesis aims to expand the current understanding in this field with particular focus on the effects of hydration and electroporation through simulation. The stratum corneum (SC) has the most dominant impact on overall impedance of skin, particularly at low frequencies, and therefore was the focus for all of the simulations. The models representing individual cells showed strong agreement with experimental data in the literature in terms of their impedance when exposed to a variety of frequencies and input voltages. Expanding these models to include a greater number of cells continued to generate agreement with experimental data from the literature. When the conductivity of the SC cells were altered to represent the effect of hydration, the simulations showed a substantial reduction in impedance from 53kΩ to 27kΩ, which can be represented as a double exponential decay. A further model was produced with a cell membrane conductivity dependent upon the voltage across the membrane to represent the presence of electropores. The results showed that when signals typically used in FES are applied, electropores are formed. The presence of electropores causes a decrease in skin impedance from 76kΩ to 22kΩ.

Functional electrical stimulation (FES) is the name given for the use of neuromuscular electrical stimulation to achieve patterns of induced movement which are of functional benefit to the user. System are available that use FES to aid persons who have suffered an insult to the motor control region of the brain and been left with movement impairment. The aim of this research was to investigate methods of providing an FES system that could have a beneficial effect in restoring arm function. The techniques for applying upper-limb stimulation are well established, however the methods of controlling it to provide functional use remain lacking. This is because upper-limb movement can be difficult to measure and quantify as the starting point for any movement may not be well defined. Moreover the movements needed to complete a useful function such as reaching and grasping requires the coordinated control of a number of muscle groups, and that relies on being able to track the position of the limb. Effective control of FES for the arm requires reliable feedback about the position and state of the limb. Electromyograms (EMG) are a measure of the very small electrical signals that are emitted whenever a muscle is ‘fired’ to move. EMG can be used to detect muscle activity and so can be a useful feedback control input. It does however have a number of drawbacks that this research sought to address by combining the method with external motion sensors. The intension had been to use the motion sensors to track the position of the limb and then use the EMG measurements to detect the wearer’s movements. FES could then be used to assist the wearer in making a desired movement. Initial studies were done to separately investigate the motion sensing and the EMG measurement components of the system. However before these could be combined a more interesting observation was made relating to bioimpedance. A study of bioimpedance measurements found a relationship between tissue impedance changes and muscle activity. Different methods for measuring bioimpedance where investigated and the results compared, before a practical technique for capturing measurements was developed and demonstrated. A new set of test equipment was made using these finding. Subsequent results using this equipment were able to demonstrate that bioimpedance measurement could be taken from a limb while FES was being used, and that these measurement could be used as a feedback signal to control the FES to maintain a target limb position. This work forms the basis of a novel approach to the control of FES that uses feedback from the user’s limb to determine the position of the limb in free space without need for additional sensors.

This thesis details the development of a multi actuated hand designed for a five year old child. The thesis discusses the different methods of powering, controlling and manufacturing prosthetic devices; specifying the options chosen for this project. Following a feasibility study into advanced paediatric prosthetics (Redman et al., 2011), this research has aimed at improving the state of the art. It presents a modular device that has a powered opposable thumb and four individually powered fingers. A study into curling finger designs has produced a novel curling design that combines a natural closure trajectory with a mechanical advantage that is higher than other curling fingers. The final research represents a significant step in improving the functionality of prosthetic hands for children. Curling fingers and a driven opposable thumb are both abilities that have not been presented in devices aimed at children. The hand compares favourably to all commercially available paediatric prosthetic hands and advanced adult devices. The final point of this design that separates it from devices designed specifically for adults is that it can be easily scaled to produce versions for a range of age groups up to and including adults. This allows the research to start to address the issue of out-growing prosthesis. The device includes interchangeable modular parts that allow the hand to be \grown "with the child. These points are all aimed at increasing the acceptance of the child prosthesis. Acceptance of a device is the key to good prosthetic fitment. If the device is not fitted and then subsequently worn it renders any advancements inconsequential. To allow regular replacement of parts the modules have been designed to be low cost enough to be considered disposable. To achieve this, an evaluation of the feasibility of using rapid prototyping as a construction material for prosthetic devices has been com- pleated, which concludes that the right printed material is suitable for this application. These features combine to deliver a device for children with a high level of dexterity that has only previously been seen on advanced adult devices. Thus, this thesis provided the basis for next generation rehabilitation devices for the next generation.

Executing daily chores with missing limbs is undoubtedly very challenging. For a person who has lost his lower arm, it is highly desirable to replace this loss with a device that not only identical in appearance, but closely mimics its capabilities. While there are many prosthetic products of multiple functionalities in the current market, the capability of the device to replicate the tactile sensory system, the sensation largely felt at the fingertips and palm, is often neglected. The motivation of this work is to provide a sense of embodiment to prosthetic users by supplementing their devices with a sensory feedback to the residual arm using haptic technology. A piezoelectric sensor attached to a fingertip of a Southampton Hand, is used to acquire vibration signals as a textured surface slides past the finger. With an upgraded data acquisition strategy, the piezoelectric sensor has been able to detect signal frequencies generated during the exploratory movement that reliably correlate to all the widths of grooves and ridges of the surface textures under investigation. The same signal frequencies become input signals to the Eccentric Rotation Mass (ERM), a haptic actuator selected to produce vibration to the upper arm, in accordance with the sensation felt by a finger when exploring the surface textures. A prototype that includes the ERM miniature motor and a specially designed brass platform has been fabricated to work at 250 Hz, the optimum frequency of mechanoreceptors underneath the skin of the upper arm. Results from the psychophysical investigation demonstrated that participants were able to associate the vibration patterns perceived at their upper arms with the surface textures felt on their fingertips. The findings from this work provide optimistic possibility that touch sensations that was previously lost could be ‘felt’ by the users. This would undeniably enhance their appreciation towards a well-designed device that feels more natural due to its ‘life-like’ quality.

Currently, laser treatments for Port Wine Stain (PWS) lesions are considered the choice therapy, but response is poor or treatments are ineffective for around half of patients. It is proposed in this thesis that improvements to the effectiveness of laser treatment can be achieved through the acquisition of estimated PWS vessel number density, depths and diameters for each individual lesion. Information regarding PWS vessel architecture is found to be contained within the colour of the lesion. Presented in this thesis is a method of extracting this information through colour measurements and the inverse application of a skin model. Colour measurements are performed on 14 participants using a Konica-Minolta CM2600d spectrophotometer employing a xenon flashlamp illumination source and an integrating sphere. Light transport is simulated through an 8 layer mathematical skin model inclusive of horizontal, pseudo-cylindrical PWS blood vessels using a new Monte Carlo programme. Within the programme, model parameters were adjusted in an iterative process and skin colour was reproduced with a mean discrepancy of 1.9% reflection for clinically normal skin (24 datasets) and 2.4% for PWS skin (25 datasets). The programme estimated anatomical properties of the measured regions of skin, yielding epidermal melanin volume fractions from 0.4% to 3.3% and mean melanosome diameters from 41 nm to 384 nm across the participant group. The response to laser treatment was assessed for 10 participants through colour measurements taken immediately before and at least 6 weeks after treatment and through expert analysis of photographs for 9 participants taken at these times. Treatment response was not found to correlate directly with the pre-treatment melanin parameters estimated by the programme. Mean depths, diameters and number densities of PWS vessels were also estimated by the programme before and after treatment. These parameters were compared to data obtained from Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) images for 5 participants. Number densities and diameters predicted by the simulation varied by no more than 10% from the values determined by OCT for 4 and 5 out of 7 regions respectively. Mean depths predicted by the simulation did not correspond with those determined by OCT however. This may be a result of the limited contribution of deeper vessels to the colour of PWS skin. Predicted PWS parameters were compared to treatment response assessed by colour measurement for 10 participants and by photographic analysis for 9 of these. Predicted vessel number densities were not found to correspond with treatment response. Vessel diameters predicted by the simulation correlated with treatment response when compared with the pulse lengths selected for treatment. Optical coefficients derived from the skin model were used to estimate appropriate laser treatment radiant exposures at the predicted mean vessel depths and these radiant exposures corresponded strongly with the treatment response. Suggestions for improvements in the predictions of melanosome diameters through changes in the adjacent skin minimisation procedure within the programme are discussed. The apparent underestimation of PWS blood vessel number densities and mean depths (compared to biopsy studies) may be a result of the reduced influence of deeper PWS vessels upon skin colour. Further investigation, including modifications to the PWS vessel minimisation procedure within the programme, would be necessary to determine whether improvements in these predictions may be achievable. The results of the study show that the new Monte Carlo programme is capable of extracting, from measurements of skin colour, realistic estimates of PWS skin characteristics which can be used to predict treatment response and therefore inform treatment parameters on an individual PWS.

Electrical stimulation applied to the common peroneal nerve during the swing phase of gait is an established clinical technique for the correction of dropped foot following upper motor neuron injury. The catch-like effect of skeletal muscle refers to force augmentation resulting from the inclusion of an initial high frequency burst of two or more stimuli prior to conventional low frequency electrical stimulation. There is interest in clinical utilisation of catch-like stimulation during functional applications; however the mechanism of the effect is not fully understood. The purpose of this research was to determine if the catch-like effect is a property of the muscle alone or related to spinal reflex mediated activation. In order to investigate this, direct and reflex motor effects of conventional and catch-like stimulation during dropped foot correction and other controlled conditions were assessed in unimpaired (n=12) and stroke (n=13) populations through use of electromyography. A system was developed to enable analysis of electromyography activity shortly after the application of configurable stimulation patterns. Innovative design minimised effects of stimulation artefact such that electromyography of the tibialis anterior and soleus muscles during dropped foot correction could be assessed. This system was utilised and further refined during exploratory investigations prior to structured use with study participants. Both direct and reflex motor effects of conventional stimulation were found to vary with muscle length. At typical stimulation intensities and frequencies used during dropped foot correction, direct (orthodromic) motor activation dominates voluntary or reflex mediated activation of the tibialis anterior. Enhanced contractile force when utilising catch-like stimulation with human participants, appears an effect solely inherent to muscle with no excitatory or inhibitory spinal reflex contribution. Facilitation of reflected antidromic motor activation (F-waves) with voluntary effort, observed only within the unimpaired participant group, may be an indicator of normal neuroplasticity at the spinal cord. Findings highlight the need to consider antidromic motor effects of electrical stimulation when combining its use with voluntary function during future clinical development.

Shoulder pain is associated with abnormal movement of the scapula. Quantitative measurement and classification of abnormal scapular kinematics, however, is difficult due to the gliding nature of the scapula beneath the skin surface, and large variation in data. The aims of this study were to determine the validity and reliability of the acromion marker cluster (AMC) in measuring scapular kinematics during the arm lowering phase, to measure poor control of the scapula in people with a history of shoulder pain and a group with shoulder impingement, and objectively classify poor control scapular control. The validity and reliability of the AMC was compared to the scapular locator. The AMC was valid during sagittal and scapular plane arm lowering movements (max root mean square error = 6.1°), but had poor to fair reliability (ICC = 0.12 – 0.76). The AMC was used to determine whether a group of people with a history of pain, and those with shoulder impingement, exhibited poor scapular control when performing a scapular repositioning clinical manoeuvre, compared to a healthy control group. The history of pain group exhibited an increased position of scapular downward rotation (-7.9° ± 6.3) at the end of the manoeuvre when compared to the healthy control group (0.3° ± 4.4). There were no statistical differences in people with shoulder impingement. A statistical classification technique based on the Dempster-Shafer Theory of Evidence (DST) was used to objectively classify participants as having poor scapular control. Six kinematic variables were was used as input in to the DST classifier which classified 5 out of the 6 history of pain participants as having poor scapular control, with an accuracy of 72%. The DST multivariate classifier was reasonably successful at classifying participants with poor scapular control suggesting its potential use for future analysis of abnormal scapular kinematics.

Coccydynia is a form of back pain and occurs more commonly in women than in men, and is a particular clinical problem seen in Taiwan. Understanding of the condition is limited and it cannot be isolated from other dysfunctions in the lumbopelvic region. It is proposed that neuromuscular alterations that occur in low back pain (LBP) could also occur in coccydynia and forms the topic of this thesis. The aims of this study were to explore neuromuscular and musculoskeletal changes in Taiwanese women with coccydynia. A total of 55 Taiwanese women, aged 23-65 years were studied in three groups: healthy young participants in Southampton (n=18, aged 23-35 years); patients with coccydynia in Taiwan (n=20 aged 23-65 years) and healthy older women in Taiwan (n=17, aged 35-65 years). Three techniques were used to investigate musculoskeletal changes in coccydynia: rehabilitative ultrasound imaging (RUSI), 3-dimensional motion analysis (using the VICON system) and surface electromyography (sEMG).The reliability of the developed experimental protocols was first established at the University of Southampton and then the protocols were replicated for he main study in Taiwan. Patients had thicker resting transversus abdominis (TrA) muscles than healthy participants but showed less thickness change during a functional task, indicating reduced ability to contract the muscle. Differences between patients and healthy groups from motion analysis and EMG studies were found and indicate that neuromuscular alterations occur in coccydynia. In six case studies, a six week intervention using a pelvic belt, patients reported improvements in symptoms and function but there were no changes in the objective tests of musculoskeletal function. The contributions of this preliminary work to knowledge include: (1) provision of normal reference data of muscle morphology in Taiwanese women of different ages; (2) a possible effect of age on muscle contractile ability; (3) objective evidence of changes in musculoskeletal function in patients with coccydynia, specifically muscle morphology, motor control and biomechanical changes; (4) evidence of the feasibility of using RUSI as an appropriate tool to detect differences in the lumbopelvic muscles between patients with coccydynia and healthy participants; (5) Reliability of inter-recti distance measurement on RUSI at rest and during contractions in patients with coccydynia and healthy participants; (6) the pelvic belt may be a potentially effective intervention in the management of pain in coccydynia.

Contraction of the hamstrings or gluteals muscles, using electrical stimulation, could improve the abnormal gait in neurological patients. The stimulation timing which follows the normal muscle activity is impractical to achieve using the traditional sensor (the footswitch). This study focuses on the development of a new sensor system for the detection of events in the gait cycle to trigger stimulation of hamstrings or gluteals muscles for preventing knee hyperextension into early stance or reducing the excessive hip flexion/adduction at heel strike. A sensor unit, consisting of four accelerometers,has been designed to determine the angles and linear accelerations of a segment without the need for integration. Tests have been carried out to verify the error of the sensor unit angle measurement by comparing it with the output from a potentiometer of a simple inverted pendulum. In five healthy subjects during walking, assessments have been carried out to compare the segment angle of the thigh, shank and foot calculated from the sensor unit, with the same angles measured using a motion capture system (ViconTM). The results show that the shank segment angles have a similar pattern. A sensor system to detect gait events has been developed. It consists of the sensor unit, a correlation coefficient calculation and a set of rules with thresholds. The system has detected reliably all heel strikes and a place in the gait cycle representing the tibia vertical position of five healthy subjects. Two sample windows selected from one set of the subject data have been used to detect all of the events. Using the same system, all tibial vertical events have been detected reliably compared to the footswitch in six neurological patients. In five patients, the same sample window, selected from the healthy subject, was used in the detection. For one patient, a sample window selected from the same patient data was used. Further work will be needed to implement the system in real time and evaluate it’s use with electrical stimulation as well as to establish the effect of stimulation in patients using the sensor unit as the trigger

An inability to perform tasks involving reaching is a common problem following stroke. Evidence supports the use of robotic therapy and electrical stimulation (ES) to reduce upper limb impairments following stroke, but current systems may not encourage maximal voluntary contribution from the participant. This study developed and tested iterative learning control (ILC) algorithms mediated by ES, using a purpose designed robotic workstation, for upper limb rehabilitation post stroke. Surface electromyography (EMG) which may be related to impaired performance and function was used to investigate seven shoulder and elbow muscle activation patterns in eight neurologically intact and five chronic stroke participants during nine tracking tasks. The participants’ forearm was supported using a hinged arm-holder, which constrained their hand to move in a two dimensional horizontal plane. Outcome measures taken prior to and after an intervention consisted of the Fugl- Meyer Assessment (FMA) and the Action Research Arm Test (ARAT), isometric force and error tracking. The intervention for stroke participants consisted of eighteen sessions in which a similar range of tracking tasks were performed with the addition of responsive electrical stimulation to their triceps muscle. A question set was developed to understand participants’ perceptions of the ILC system. Statistically significant improvements were measured (p≤0.05) in: FMA motor score, unassisted tracking, and in isometric force. Statistically significant differences in muscle activation patterns were observed between stroke and neurologically intact participants for timing, amplitude and coactivation patterns. After the intervention significant changes were observed in many of these towards neurologically intact ranges. The robot–assisted therapy was well accepted and tolerated by the stroke participants. This study has demonstrated the feasibility of using ILC mediated by ES for upper limb stroke rehabilitation in the treatment of stroke patients with upper limb hemiplegia.

A multiple-degree-of-freedom artificial hand has been developed at the University of Southampton with the aim of including control philosophies to form a highly functional prosthesis hand. Using electromyographic signals is an established technique for the control of a hand. In it simplest form, the signals allow for opening a hand and subsequent closing to grasp an object. This thesis describes the work carried out in the development of an electromyographic control system, with the aim to have a simple and robust method. A model of the control system was developed to differentiate grip postures using two surface electromyographic signals. A new method, moving approximate entropy was employed to investigate whether any significant patterns can be observed in the structure of the electromyographic signals. An investigation, using moving approximate entropy, on twenty healthy participants' wrist muscles (flexor carpi ulnaris and extensor carpi radialis) during wrist exion, wrist extension and cocontraction at different speeds has shown repeatable and distinct patterns at three states of contraction: start, middle and end. An analysis of the results also showed differences at different speeds of contraction. There is a low variation of the approximate entropy values between participants. This result, if used in the control of an artificial hand, would eliminate any training requirement. Other methods, mean absolute value, number of zero crossings, sample entropy, standard deviation, skewness and kurtosis have been determined from the signals. Of these features, mean absolute value and kurtosis were selected for information extraction. These three methods: moving approximate entropy, mean absolute value and kurtosis are used in the feature extraction process of the control system. A fuzzy logic system is used to classify the extracted information in discriminating the final grip posture. The results demonstrate the ability of the system to classify the information related to different grip postures.

This research programme investigates aspects of end effector design and control, to carry out grasping operations in a range of unstructured environments. A conceptual three fingered end effector design has been developed. The articulated finger is operated by a novel mechanism which provides all the finger motions. Detailed force and kinematic analyses have been carried out which establish mechanical integrity of the system and help size the various finger components. A vectorial method of link representation has been used to derive finger kinematics. This representation has been used for position control in the controller. A numerical technique based on the Newton- Raphson method has been derived to undertake the finger's inverse kinematics in realtime. To validate the theoretical operation of the finger drive, a mechanism has been built with the necessary electronic interface, and programmed for position control. A photoelasticity based sensor has been developed which is capable of detecting applied force as well as slip and is largely immune to external disturbances. The sensor has a small size allowing it to be easily incorporated into a robotic finger. Mechanics of slip has been investigated to develop a theoretical model of the slip sensor. This allows modelling of various material and geometrical parameters involved in its design. In order to control the end effector, grasping strategies have been planned and a controller structure defined. The top level of the controller uses the kinematic relation to move the finger to a goal position. When fingers make contact with an object, the controller switches over to an inner fiizzy logic algorithm. The rule base of the fiizzy logic ensures that a stable grasp has been acquired with minimum fingertip force. The implementation of the fuzzy logic has been validated on an experimental test-rig. It has been found that the controller applies different minimum fingertip force to objects of different mass and it responds very quickly to the external disturbances by applying extra force to the object. The fingertip force comes back to its previous level as soon as the disturbance vanishes. The important feature exhibited by the controller is that it forms optimal grasp of objects without knowing their mass and frictional properties. This offers a very useful capability to an end effector controller operating in unstructured environments. A complete model of the end effector has been developed which ensures equilibrium and stability of the grasped object taking dynamic conditions of grasp into account. The model estimates unbalances in position, force and moment of the grasped object and tries to minimise these unbalances. The simulated results have shown that for every grasp situation, the algorithm is capable of minimising the unbalances and the operation of the algorithm is fast enough for real-time applications.