A prosthetic hand that lets amputees feel again

Prosthetics for humans have improved with the change in time that’s also been accompanied by the change in technology. Now this has reached a whole new level with the SmartHand, a bio-adaptive hand prosthesis, developed by a team of scientists from Italy and Sweden, which also gets the actual human tactile feel besides the physical functionality of a real human hand like the other prosthetic hands.

This sensation of touch is achieved by 40 sensors that have been embedded into the hand and are connected to the patients's remaining nerves in the upper arm. So when an object is touched by the SmartHand, the stimuli are interpreted by the brain and thus that sensation is actually achieved.

Robin af Ekenstam, an amputee from Sweden, has been fitted with the SmartHand, and after using an electronic hook this is what Ekenstam has to say:

I am using muscles which I haven't used for years. That is very hard. But if you are able to control a movement, it is great. It is a feeling that I have not had for a long time. And now I am also getting the sensation back from small motors, which put pressure on certain spots on my hand. When I grab something hard, then I can feel it in the fingertips, which is strange, as I don't have them anymore. It's fantastic.

Via: BBC/Technovolgy