Researchers have developed sensors capable of making people with prosthetic hands feel humidity.
- Researchers have developed new technology: sensors that allow people with prosthetic hands to sense humidity.
- These sensors fit the prosthetic hand and are connected to the wearer’s residual limb, which senses moisture.
- Feeling humidity could improve the dexterity of people with prosthetic hands.
Prostheses to replace a missing limb are improving from a functional point of view, but what still remains very difficult is sensations… On this subject, research is progressing, as evidenced by this study published in the journal Advanced Intelligent Systems.
Find the feeling of humidity
“Much work in this area has focused on techniques that help restore motor control, but motor control is very difficult without sensationindicates Dr Davide Filingeri, one of the authors, in a communicated. From a decade, [la recherche] attempts to restore [cet aspect] sensory.”
In this work, researchers from the University of Southamptonin England, and EPFL, in Switzerland, present a new technology: sensors that allow people with prosthetic hands to sense humidity. They fit the prosthesis and are connected to the wearer’s residual limb, which feels the sensation of moisture.
Hand prosthesis: sensors improve dexterity
In detail, the sensors detect temperature, which allows them to estimate humidity. “We know that how we perceive humidity is closely linked to how we perceive temperature”, specifies Dr Davide Filingeri.
These sensors therefore constitute an advance for prosthesis wearers and could also improve their dexterity. “The humidity level, for example, influences the force with which you grip something: if a glass is wet, it can be slippery, explains Dr Davide Filingeri. It also expands the range of natural sensations that amputees can experience and improves (…) acceptance of the prosthetic limb: amputees may feel more like the prosthesis belongs to their body.“
