Researchers explore ways to develop prosthetic hands capable of providing sensory feedback From: ECN - 05/29/2015 Researchers are exploring new approaches to designing prosthetic hands capable of providing "sensory feedback." Advances toward developing prostheses with a sense of touch are presented in a special topic article in the June issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). Providing some sense of touch to the artificial hand would lessen the "cognitive burden" of relying solely on vision to initiate and monitor movements - while also providing "tremendous psychological benefits" for patients. Already in use is a technique called sensory substitution, in which one type of sensation is substituted for another. For example, vibration applied to skin on the remaining limb, or to another part of the body, is used to convey touch from sensors on the prosthesis. Other techniques use various types of implanted neural interfaces - electrodes placed in or around the nerves - which are stimulated by sensors on the prosthesis. These direct neural stimulation approaches show promise in enabling patients to feel object characteristics such as stiffness, shape, and size, or to control fine-motor movements without visual cues. A promising newer technique is targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR), in which nerves are transferred to provide sensation to intact muscles and overlying skin. Originally developed to improve control of the prosthesis, TMR approaches are being studied to elicit sensory feedback from the prostheses. Read the entire article at: http://www.ecnmag.com/news/2015/05/researchers-explore-ways-develop-prosthetic-hands-capable-providing-sensory-feedback Links: Providing a Sense of Touch to Prosthetic Hands http://journals.lww.com/plasreconsurg/Fulltext/2015/06000/Providing_a_Sense_of_Touch_to_Prosthetic_Hands.23.aspx Developing Artificial Hands Capable of Providing Sensory Feedback http://www.mdtmag.com/news/2015/05/developing-artificial-hands-capable-providing-sensory-feedback