Researchers in Vienna recently showed off what is said to be the first artificial leg that can simulate the feelings of a real limb and reduce phantom pain.
Remaining foot nerve endings from a patient’s stump were “rewired” to healthy tissue in the thigh. Six sensors fitted on the foot sole of a prosthesis were then linked to artificial stimulators connected to the stump, allowing the sensors to Researchers Unveil World's First 'Feeling' Artificial Legsend the appropriate signals to the brain whenever the user applies pressure.
“In a healthy foot, skin receptors carry out this function but they are obviously missing here,” Professor Hubert Egger at the University of Linz in northern Austria told AFP. “However, the information conductors — the nerves — are still present, they’re just not being stimulated.”
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Remaining foot nerve endings from a patient’s stump were “rewired” to healthy tissue in the thigh. Six sensors fitted on the foot sole of a prosthesis were then linked to artificial stimulators connected to the stump, allowing the sensors to Researchers Unveil World's First 'Feeling' Artificial Legsend the appropriate signals to the brain whenever the user applies pressure.
“In a healthy foot, skin receptors carry out this function but they are obviously missing here,” Professor Hubert Egger at the University of Linz in northern Austria told AFP. “However, the information conductors — the nerves — are still present, they’re just not being stimulated.”
Continue reading…
Continue reading...