Bionic hand that can sense and feel

Prosthetic have been around for a long time and are well known in the field of biomedical engineering. However, prosthetic that can sense and feel is an advancement and an achievement. It is definitely a well earned achievement for Silvestro Micera and his team. Micera and his team added sensors to a prosthetic hand which could detect and measure information about touch. The team used computer algorithms to transform the electrical signals emitted into an impulse that sensory nerves could interpret. The picture below is an example of an intraneural electrode and of signals recorded in a patient.

There has been previously developed prosthetic limbs that deliver tactile feedback but Micera and his team's discovery shows how much sensory feedback improves the patient's performance.  It was demonstrated by Dennis Aabo, a Danish man who received the prosthetic hand which was connected to his nervous system via electrodes that were implanted into the nerves in his upper arm. These were connected to the artificial sensors in the fingers of the prosthetic hand. The prosthetic hand allowed him to grip, tell the shapes and stiffness of objects.
Here is a picture of Micera and his team with Mr. Aabo performing lab tests.

The bionic hand that Mr. Aabo received was a prototype. It is still in works so it could take years before the bionic hand is commercially available. However, the bionic hand is a demonstration of how important it is to build sensory feedback into prosthetic devices because it allows individuals to perform the motions of everyday life.

Who knows, bionic hand that can detect texture and temperature is a possibility also.

-B