Applause for the SmartHand
From: American Friends of Tel Aviv University - 11/04/2009

Tel Aviv University (TAU) researchers and European scientists have succeeded
in wiring an artificial hand to the existing nerve endings in the stump of a
person with a severed arm. The bionic hand, called the SmartHand, resembles a
real hand in function, sensitivity, and appearance. It features four electric
motors and 40 sensors to replicate the movement of a human hand and provide a
sensation of feeling and touch. The project's first human subject has been
able to perform complicated tasks such as eating and writing, and says he has
been able to "feel" his fingers once again. TAU researchers developed the
interface between the body's nerves and the device's electronics. "Perfectly
good nerve endings remain at the stem of a severed limb," says TAU professor
Yosi Shacham-Diamand. "Our team is building the interface between the device
and the nerves in the arm, connecting cognitive neuroscience with
state-of-the-art information technologies." He says the challenge was to make
an electrode that was not only flexible but that could be implanted in the
human body and function properly for at least 20 years. After only a few
training sessions, the human subject is operating the artificial hand as if
it was his own, Shacham-Diamand says. The researchers say the same technology
could be used to build a bionic leg. They say the SmartHand prototype
currently looks very "bionic," but future versions could have artificial skin
that will look human and provide the brain with even more tactile feedback. 

Read the entire article at:
http://www.aftau.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=10871

Links:
Yosi Shacham-Diamand
http://www2.tau.ac.il/nano/researcher.asp?id=agdmigeck

Now, prosthetic SmartHand that can ‘feel’
http://www.sindhtoday.net/news/1/67978.htm

SmartHand man/machine interface is essential link in groundbreaking
  prosthetic hand 
http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=13369.php

Robotic hand can “feel”
http://www.ecnmag.com/article-robotic-hand-can-feel-110509.aspx