Prosthetic arm enables patients to feel the objects they grip

Good news! Amazing stuff! Unfortunately, progress in prosthetics is not fast enough!

" ... Then three years ago, Normark received a new kind of brain-controlled prosthetic that was surgically attached to the bone, muscles, and nerves of his upper arm, allowing him to not only grip objects intuitively with his hand but feel the sensation of touching them. ... For one, all electronics are contained within the prosthesis, which removes the need for external equipment, such as wires, electrodes, or batteries. The prosthetic hand is controlled using electrodes implanted in the muscles of the upper arm, to which nerves involved in opening and closing the hand have been rerouted. Second, force sensors embedded in the thumb of the hand provide sensory feedback while grasping objects. Those signals are relayed through wires connected to nerves in the upper arm, and then to the brain, where they are perceived as pressure against the hand. ..."

Prosthetic arm enables patients to feel the objects they grip - STAT: The prosthetic arm represents an advance over other mind-controlled bionic limbs under development, the researchers said.

Mind-controlled prostheses that “feel” for real For the first time, people with arm amputations can experience sensations of touch in a mind-controlled arm prosthesis that they use in everyday life. Three Swedish patients have lived, for several years, with this new technology – one of the world’s most integrated interfaces between human and machine.