Brain-connected prosthetic hand allows a paralyzed man to feel physical sensations

The advance has been made possible by neural technologies developed under US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Revolutionizing Prosthetics. “The wires from the motor cortex allow the wearer to control the motion of the robot arm, and pressure sensors in the arm that connect back into the sensory cortex give the wearer the sensation that they are touching something”, Mike Murphy told Quartz.

Scientists wired electrodes into the 28-year-old patient’s sensory cortex, which is the part of the brain that identifies tactile sensations, enabling him to perceive a basic sense of touch. Sanchez said, “Prosthetic limbs that can be controlled by thoughts are showing great promise, but without feedback from signals travelling back to the brain, it can be hard to achieve the level of control needed to perform precise movements”.

“We’ve completed the circuit”, said DARPA program manager Justin Sanchez.

This is not the actual prosthetic DARPA used. The latest version of the DEKA arm, pictured below, was created with the help of 35 volunteer amputees who participated in a Department of Veterans Affairs study.

Although the current demonstration is the first of a prosthetic hand directly communicating with the brain, other researchers have demonstrated that they can send messages from sensors in the prosthetic hand to electrodes implanted in nerves in the arm that then communicate with the brain. The researchers recorded a 100% accuracy in identifying which finger was being touched and the patient reported he felt as if it was his own hand being touched. Even when the team tried to trick him, he caught on to it. He could also feel through multiple fingers at the same time while moving the robotic arm around.

This development is one of the many DARPA is working on at its relatively new Biological Technologies Office.

“DARPA’s investments in neurotechnologies are helping to open entirely new worlds of function and experience for individuals living with paralysis and have the potential to benefit people with similarly debilitating brain injuries or diseases”, Sanchez said in a prepared statement.

“Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a serious cause of disability in the United States”.

New technology allows a 28 year old spinal cord victim to feel sensation through a prosthetic hand.

Last week the USA defence force announced that it has given a paralysed man the ability to “feel” physical sensations through a prosthetic robotic hand that’s been directly connected to his brain.