Implanted electrodes can help amputees gain sensation in prosthetics
From: Medical Design Technology

Researchers use implanted electrodes to improve the sensory response and
neural connection between a patient and a prosthetic limb. 

Swiss researchers have a developed a new prosthetic limb system that uses
implanted electrodes to send sensory signals from the limb back to the brain,
creating a more realistic sense of touch.  

"We could be on the cusp of providing new and more effective clinical
solutions to amputees in the next years," Silvestro Micera, head engineer at
the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne Translational Neural Engineering
Laboratory, said in prepared remarks. 

The implanted electrodes "create an intimate and natural connection with the
nerves," the researchers said. The direct connection to the nervous system
may allow for more intuitive motor control of the limbs and more realistic
sensory feedback from the prosthesis, they added. 

Source:
http://www.massdevice.com/news/implanted-electrodes-can-help-amputees-gain-sensation-prosthetics-massdevicecom-call

Links:
Transverse Intrafasicular Multichannel Electrode System
http://www.project-time.eu/

The Quest for a Better Bionic Hand
https://documents.epfl.ch/groups/m/me/mediacomfiles/www/AAAS13/AAAS13_Micera/EmbargoedPressRelease_Micera.pdf

Translational Neural Engineering Lab
http://tne.epfl.ch/

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Touchy-Feely Bionic Hand Closer to Reality
From: TechNewsDaily - 02/20/2013
By: Charles Q. Choi 

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology researchers are developing a bionic
hand featuring an interface that links the hand to a person's nervous system.
During a four-week clinical trial, the researchers found they could improve
sensory feedback that an amputee received from bionics by using electrodes
implanted into the median and ulnar nerves in the arm near the stump. The
researchers also analyzed motor neural activity from the nerves and found
that they could tease out signals related to grasping to help control a
prosthetic hand placed near the amputee but not physically attached to the
person's arm. "We could be on the cusp of providing new and more effective
clinical solutions to amputees in the next years," says Swiss Federal
Institute of Technology's Silvestro Micera. The researchers also announced a
new clinical trial that will connect the prosthetic hand directly to a
patient as part of the Italian Ministry of Health's NEMESIS project. The
researchers say future research could have amputees train for what bionic
hands might feel like using virtual-reality experiments that could help them
reconstruct their body images. "In the medium term we'd like to have
virtual-reality environments for training patients," Micera says. 

Read the entire article at:
http://news.yahoo.com/touchy-feely-bionic-hand-closer-reality-010549683.html

Links:
Brainpower: Human Minds May Soon Control Prosthetic Limbs
http://www.technewsdaily.com/2114-brainpower-human-minds-may-soon-control-prosthetic-limbs.html

Related:
9 Cyborg Enhancements Available Right Now
http://www.technewsdaily.com/4865-9-cyborg-enhancements.html

For the Paralyzed, Wearable Robots May Bring More Interaction
http://www.technewsdaily.com/1724-for-the-paralyzed-wearable-robots-may-bring-more-interaction.html

Pet Prosthetics: Bionic Devices Let Injured Animals Roam Again
http://www.technewsdaily.com/774-pet-prosthetics-bionic-devices-let-injured-animals-roam-again.html

Gallery of animal prosthetics and orthotics
http://www.technewsdaily.com/771-gallery-bionic-devices-let-animals-roam-again.html