Bionic Hand Wired To Nerves Can "Feel" When Touched 42
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."
Yay, he can... (Score:2, Funny)
Masturbate again...
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I didnt realize it was the hand's sensory input that was vital to the experience.
or
Before it was the permanent equivalent of sitting on your hand to make it numb so it feels like the "stranger"
Old News (Score:3, Funny)
Steve Austin did all this years ago
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Stone Cold never ceases to amaze.
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Since technology gets better and cheaper as time goes on, shouldn't we now have the $600 Man, who could kick the original $6,000,000 mans ass?
Outer Limits: Valerie 23 (Score:1)
Outer Limits: Valerie 23 [youtube.com]
Obligitory XKCD (Score:5, Funny)
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LMFAO
No it can't (Score:5, Interesting)
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 (Score:5, Interesting)
Luke (Score:2, Funny)
I am your father
This guy's luck sucks (Score:4, Funny)
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His name is withheld to protect the future of the Rebellion.
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Transplanted? (Score:3)
Transplanted? Really? Who's the donor?
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Luke Skywalker.
Hand Hack (Score:1)
Missing some details (Score:5, Informative)
What it appears they are going to do is implant some wires into the man's residuum. These wires - electrodes - will have two purposes:
In conventional motor-driven, upper-limb prostheses, particularly below-the-elbow, the control signals are measured using surface EMGs (ElectroMyoGraphic sensors). These aren't measuring nerve firings, per se, but rather the electrical activity of actual muscle contractions (in the forearm). This is done because the actual motor nerves are pretty tiny, and the signal in them is fairly small. The muscle, on the other hand, is much easier to locate, and it acts as a natural amplifier of what the nerve tells it to do. It's the difference between probing a tiny signal wire coming out of your MP3 player and picking up the sound that is resonating in the speaker housing.
The downside of using surface EMGs is that, by measuring electrical potentials across several cm of skin and muscle, it is hard to pick up on individual muscle contractions. So, it is generally not possible to pick up on just the muscle that flexed/extended the index finger. The best you can usually do is pick up on the flexion/extension signals for all finger muscles or the wrist. Another downside is that the EMGs are usually mounted to the socket - the molded plastic or composite structure that mechanically interfaces the prosthesis to the residuum. As the wearer moves around and sweats, the EMGs can shift over the skin surface, which degrades the signal strength and specificity.
By implanting EMG electrodes under the skin, you can mostly eliminate the problems of the having the electrodes shifting, because they'll move with the tissue they are measuring. You may also be able to get more localized measurements (crosstalk is a difficult problem), and so get more than 1-2 channels of control input. This approach is not exactly new, but neither is it widespread. Amputees are, naturally, a bit wary of invasive procedures - they don't want to risk screwing up what they have left. The other downside is that, at least in this case, they are opting for transdermal electrodes - wires poking through the skin, which could have long-term drawbacks. Some work is being done with fully implanted EMGs that can be probed using near field technologies - RFID in your muscles - but that is still a work in progress.
Stimulating nerves to provide sensory feedback is, likewise, not exactly new, but hasn't made it into clinical practice. There have been anecdotes about patients who have undergone targeted nerve reinnervation who, when you poke them in a certain place on their pectoral muscle, report "feeling" a sensation in their lost hand. Again, going to implanted electrodes allows you the chance to have must greater specificity.
Aside from the invasive nature of the procedure, my main concern with this project is its longevity. How long can the electrodes exist within the body? Will you still be able to get or produce a worthwhile signal after 1 month, 6 months, 10 years? The prosthesis can be repaired and replaced over time, but tinkering around with the electrodes may not be feasible. I also have some concerns about the durability of the sensing elements in the prosthetic hand, but that is more straightforward engineering than anything else.
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Bionic Fetishes (Score:2)
Obligatory Dune (Score:2)
(...) Now the itching becomes burning... heat, upon heat, upon heat.
PAUL (whispering):
It burns.
Summary Double-Take (Score:1)
The patient is an unnamed man in his 20s living in Rome,
So am I the only one who read this part of the summary and saw it as "The patient is an unarmed man in his 20s...."?