In order to improve the daily lives of people with upper limb amputees, American researchers have developed an electronic glove, to be worn over a prosthetic hand, capable of providing softness, warmth, appearance and sensory perception. similar to that of the human limb.
Today in France, between 8,000 and 15,000 people would be amputated from the upper limb. If we do not know the exact number of patients who are missing only the hand, we know that a quarter of upper limb amputees do not use prostheses. Because the latter are often unpleasant, cumbersome or too mechanical. However, a new scientific breakthrough could change the situation. Indeed, researchers at Harvard University have just developed an electronic glove that can be worn over a prosthetic hand to provide the patient with sensations similar to those they would have experienced if they still had their member. Their jewel of technology was presented in an article published on the 30th in the journal NPG Asia Materials.
“The human hand is one of the most important parts of the body and serves as a versatile physical instrument for daily and social activities. Any disfigurement of this powerful physical instrument can affect a person’s quality of life due to reduced manual dexterity, sensory reception and an unnatural appearance”, explain the researchers in the preamble to the paper.
Sensory perception
Therefore, they wanted to create a glove capable of providing softness, warmth, appearance and sensory perception similar to that of the human limb. This technology can therefore detect pressure, temperature or even hydration.
To accomplish this feat, Professor Chi Hwan Lee of Purdue University (Indiana, USA) together with researchers from the Universities of Georgia and Texas, added thin and flexible electronic sensors and miniaturized circuit chips to silicon base on a nitrile glove available in stores. They then linked the device to a wristwatch specifically designed to display sensory data in real time and transmit it remotely to the user for further processing.
Realistic softness, warmth and appearance
“We have developed an innovative concept of a soft, sensor-instrumented electronic glove, built on a commercial nitrile glove, which adapts perfectly to arbitrary shapes of the hand”, says Lee. “The electronic glove is configured with an expandable form of multi-modal sensors to collect various information such as pressure, temperature, humidity, and electrophysiological biosignals, while simultaneously providing realistic hand softness, appearance, and even warmth. human,” he continued.
The researchers have patented their technology and are currently looking for partners to collaborate on clinical trials so that they can continue to optimize the glove. They are also looking for experts in the field of prosthetics to validate the use of their device. “My group is dedicated to the development of various wearable biomedical devices, and my ultimate goal is to bring these technologies out of the lab and help many people in need. This research represents my continued efforts in this context,” says Lee.
Affordable for users
Eventually, manufacturing this glove in large volumes will be profitable, assure the researchers. This would therefore make it an affordable option for users, unlike other emerging technologies using artificial intelligence, which are completely overpriced. The glove will be available in different skin tones, with realistic fingerprints and artificial fingernails, to help the amputee feel more comfortable in social settings such as shaking hands. “The potential end user could be any prosthetic user who did not feel comfortable wearing current prostheses, especially in many social settings,” Lee concludes.
Other technologies on the way
Many researchers are working to develop tools to improve the daily lives of amputees. Last November, French researchers announced that they had manufactured, thanks to artificial intelligence, a prototype of an arm prosthesis able to detect phantom limb movement. The concept is that the patient moves his amputated limb and the prosthesis detects the movement to reproduce it.
“Brain changes in response to amputation have been studied for years in patients reporting phantom limb pain. However, our results show that there is a functional imbalance even in the absence of pain, with patients reporting only phantom sensations,” the scientists explain, noting that further research on the subject is needed.
At the same time, Swedish researchers developed a prosthesis capable of restore complex wrist movements. Because at the present time, conventional prostheses rarely make it possible to catch an object, rotate it 180° to turn it over, then put it back down. The new joint works thanks to a surgically osseointegrated implant in each of the two bones of the forearm, the ulna and the radius. An artificial joint in the form of a wrist then acts as an interface between these two implants and the prosthetic hand. Thus assembled, this device allows much more natural movements, with intuitive control and sensory feedbacksay the researchers.
See below an explanatory video of the electronic glove:
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