research worker from the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC have developed a system that ’s enabling a mankind with quadriplegia to experience the sentiency of touch through a robotlike arm that he controls with his mastermind .
Prosthetic limbs are getting better all the time , but they ’re still not able to convey the sense of touch to the user . That ’s a serious limitation given just how important touch is for hand economic consumption . Without it , we would n’t be able to secern the difference between a slice of cake or the fork we use to take a bit out of it . A research squad led by Robert A. Gaunt from the University of Pittsburgh is the first to develop a system that overcomes this limit , allowing a paralyzed 28 - year - old man to feel object through a robotic arm .
To make it work , the researchers implanted tiny microelectrode array — each about the size of a shirt push button — into the chief somatosensory cortex of the patient role ’s learning ability — the part of the brain that receives all sensory input signal from the consistency . Prior to the surgical process , mind CAT scan were used to determine where the patient march hint in each of his fingers and his laurel wreath .
After the operating theatre , currents were delivered through the electrodes . With the service of a information processing system , this allow the affected role to feel the sensation of sense of touch through a robotic subdivision .
“ I can feel just about every finger — it ’s a really unearthly sensation , ” said Nathan Copeland in a release , who became paralyzed from the chest down following a car fortuity in 2004 . “ Sometimes it feels electrical and sometimes it ’s pressure , but for the most part , I can tell most of the finger with definite preciseness . It feels like my finger are getting touch or pushed . ”
Importantly , the stimulation of the sensory cortex is produce natural sensation instead of tingling , and the sensations were stable for calendar month survey the OR . Copeland , who correctly identified objects about 80 percent of the meter , can feel press , and discern its intensity to a sure degree , but he ca n’t name whether an object is live or cold-blooded . That tell , this particular approaching could be used to fetch information about an object ’s location in space , and the press needed to interact with and cook an target .
“ The ultimate end is to create a system which moves and feels just like a innate sleeve would , ” noted Gaunt in a statement . “ We have a long way to go to get there , but this is a great start . ”
[ Science Translational Medicine ]
assistive devicesFuturismHapticsMedicineSciencesensesTechnology
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