Prosthetics are becoming more and more realistic, and it is possible to produce affordable 3D printed ones. Add to this hands that can be moveable enough to send an email – and be produced in a size suitable for the person wearing it. There is, however, one thing that they cannot do, and that is to allow feeling and bring back the sense of touch. That could change however thanks to the research carried out by the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna and the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne. They’ve produced a hand that can tell the difference between rough and smooth.
User Dennis Aavo Sorenson says that it is a realistic feeling and coarseness can be felt. eLife journal reports that fingertip including the sensors has been via nodes to the stump if his arm. It is hoped that this will lead to users being able to tell texture, weight and temperature of the world around them.
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Tests were carried out on non-amputees, and the electrode connected to a nerve. 77% of the time, they could tell the difference in texture, and Sorenson also did this and was correct 96% of the time. An EEG tested the brain wave activity of non-amputees and amputees and found that both used the same part of the brain, and this proved the findings were correct.
It may still be early days, but the future is hopeful both for amputees and the use of robots.
For more info visit; elifesciences.org