Bionic Hand Wired To Nerves Can "Feel" When Touched

An anonymous reader writes in with a breakthrough in prosthetics. "The first bionic hand that allows an amputee to feel what they are touching will be transplanted later this year in a pioneering operation that could introduce a new generation of artificial limbs with sensory perception. The patient is an unnamed man in his 20s living in Rome who lost the lower part of his arm following an accident, said Silvestro Micera of the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland. The wiring of his new bionic hand will be connected to the patient’s nervous system with the hope that the man will be able to control the movements of the hand as well as receiving touch signals from the hand’s skin sensors."

No it can't

[Anonymous Coward]

Bionic Hand Wired To Nerves Can "Feel" When Touched

The first bionic hand that allows an amputee to feel what they are touching

vs

The wiring of his new bionic hand will be connected to the patient’s nervous system with the hope that the man will be able to control the movements of the hand as well as receiving touch signals from the hand’s skin sensors.

So no, it can't. It might work, but they're not sure. Let's wait until they've actually attached the damn thing..

Re:No it can't

[DaemonDan]

Previous models of this same device did actually provide some sensation. "An earlier, portable model of the hand was temporarily attached to Pierpaolo Petruzziello in 2009, who lost half his arm in a car accident. He was able to move the bionic hand’s fingers, clench them into a fist and hold objects. He said that he could feel the sensation of needles pricked into the hand’s palm." (http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/a-sensational-breakthrough-the-first-bionic-hand-that-can-feel-8498622.html) So they have pretty good reason to hope that it will provide some feeling at least.

Re:Missing some details

[Solandri]

There is another drawback. Yes it can be used to give amputees sensation in their artificial limbs. But I'm sure there are people out their looking forward to this as a method of torture without physical damage. So we've got yet another technological log to throw on the dual-use bonfire, along with screwdrivers for turning screws or picking locks, guns for hunting or killing, bittorrent for file distribution or illegal copying, etc.