Biomedical engineers are developing a prosthetic arm for amputees that responds to the patient’s thoughts and can sense touch through a device of electrodes implanted in the muscles.
In the United States, a team of researchers from the University of Utah has developed the LUKE arm which reproduces the sensations of a human hand when it touches objects, by sending signals to the brain. Their results were published in the journal Science Robotics.
“We modified the way this information is sent to the brain so that it is done as in the human body, explains Jacob George, co-author of the study. By copying the body, we had better results”.
Thanks to these results, an amputee patient wearing this prosthetic arm can feel by touch if an object is hard or soft, understand how to grasp it and make delicate gestures, impossible with other models of prosthetic arms.
“I almost cried”
“I almost cried,” says Keven Walgamott, real estate agent and one of seven patients to test the LUKE arm. “It was amazing. I never thought I could feel again with that hand.”
Thanks to the LUKE arm, Walgamott was able to pick up grapes without crushing them, take an egg without breaking it and hold his wife’s hand with the same sensations as a person with a natural hand.
In development for 15 years
Walgamott’s newfound sensations are the result of fifteen years of development. The arm is made mostly of metal but with a silicone hand to mimic human skin.
The researchers then developed a system that allows the prosthetic arm to be directly connected to the patient’s nervous system. The arm also has sensors installed at the hand that send signals to the patient’s nerves.
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