Scientists Create Real Life Bionic Hand

A prosthetic hand that detects sensory information has enabled a human amputee victim to feel in real time. Nine years after Dennis Sorensen, from Denmark, lost his left hand in a fireworks accident, he became the first amputee to try out this latest technology, enabling him to feel the shape and texture of objects even when blindfolded. This research, published in the journal of Science Translational Medicine last week, represents a huge landmark in the challenge to create prostheses functionally indistinguishable from human limbs.

Researchers from EPLF (Switzerland) and SSSA (Italy) developed the prosthetic hand tested by Mr Sorensen. The prosthetic hand contained several sensors attached to an artificial tendon on each finger. The sensors could detect the level of force and could deliver precise stimulation to electrodes that were surgically implanted into Sorensen’s upper arm nerves to restore real-time sensory feeling in the nervous system.

This is the first time that sensory feedback has been restored in an amputee in real-time to control an artificial limb. However, this was only a short-lived trial as Sorenson’s electrodes were removed after four weeks due to safety restrictions. We remain years away from making this technology commercially available, and even further away from designing the perfect prosthesis. Nevertheless, this novel technology has the potential to dramatically increase the quality of life of amputee victims. The scientists behind this sensory prosthetic hand are now looking to streamline the equipment for better functional use.

Read more at: http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/6/222/222ra19.full