Scientists Create a Way For People With Amputations To Feel Their Prosthetics

[DamianTV]

https://science.slashdot.org/story/1...ir-prosthetics

Prosthetic hands have gotten increasingly sophisticated. Many can recreate the complex shape and detail of joints and fingers, while powered prostheses allow for independent, willful movement. But a new study published Wednesday in Science Translational Medicine offers a potential glimpse into the future of the technology: Artificial hands that actually feel like a living limb as they move. The researchers recruited people with amputations who had been given surgery that reconfigured certain muscle and sensory nerves surrounding the amputated limb, allowing them to control their prosthesis through intuitive brain signals (thoughts) sent to the repurposed nerves. Across a series of experiments involving three of these patients, the researchers attached devices that generated vibrations along specific muscles near the amputation site. When the device was turned on, these vibrations created an illusionary sense of kinesthesia -- an awareness of conscious self-movement -- in the prosthetic hand as the person performed tasks with it, both in a virtual stimulation and in the real world. The volunteers had amputations that extended just past their elbow as well as their whole arm. Not only did the experiment let them "feel" their hand as they opened and closed it, but the restored intuition allowed them to perform tasks without needing to constantly look at their hand. And coupled with vision, it gave them overall better motor control over their prosthesis.

What kind of prosthetic would Six Million Dollars buy? A pinky finger? Maybe a hangnail?

This is actually quite good news I think, as long as all your sensory data is not recorded and monitored by Facebook, Google, and Amazon...

[Intoxiklown]

I've seen the same concept applied to "smart clothing" that can be worn by deaf people. Something along the lines of "feeling" a system of communication via soundwaves, basically allowing them to be aware of their surroundings in a 360 degree window.

It's definitely cool stuff. I would have never seen the connection as they seemingly have to work with prosthetics. Just wait until they can bridge the gap of a severed spine from brain to limb to make being paralyzed something our grandchildren will be amazed we had to deal with.

[timosman]

Tony Stark?