A robotic sentient hand has been created

Researchers from Sweden have created new-generation prosthesis. It serves as a nearly complete replacement for a lost limb.

There are many people in the world who have lost one or both hands. But even modern prostheses allow their users to make only simple movements, such as grasping, but returning a person’s sensory function is out of the question. Thousands of people have limited abilities and it is a major challenge for modern medicine. Researchers at Integrum AB and Chalmer Institute of Technology headed by Dr. Max Ortiz Catalan focused on finding a solution to the problem.

The prosthesis they have created extracts signals from the patient's muscles through the electrodes implanted in his/her arm. In this way, the person gets perfect control over the device and even regains the lost sensory function.

Recently, a unique surgery has been successfully performed in Sweden: a hand amputee got a musculoskeletal implant to which prosthesis will be anchored.

It consists of two metal rods implanted in the bone and electrodes connected to the nerve endings. This will allow the person to control the prosthesis and experience tactile sensations. The client is currently training using VR-technology which will allow to easily master the control of the artificial hand.