Tactile Feedback Adds 'Muscle Sense' to Prosthetic Hand From: ECN Magazine - 05/30/2017 Engineers working to add "muscle sense" to prosthetic limbs found that tactile feedback on the skin allowed blindfolded test subjects to more than double their ability to discern the size of objects grasped with a prosthetic hand. The results will be presented in June 2017 in Germany by researchers from Rice University and the Research Center "E.Piaggio" of the University of Pisa and the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT). The scientific term for this muscle sense is proprioception, and O'Malley's Mechatronics and Haptic Interfaces Lab (MAHI) has worked for years to develop technology that would allow amputees to receive proprioceptive feedback from artificial limbs. In a new paper to be presented June 7th at the World Haptics 2017 conference in Furstenfeldbruck, Germany, O'Malley and colleagues demonstrate that 18 able-bodied test subjects performed significantly better on size-discrimination tests with a prosthetic hand when they received haptic feedback from a simple skin-stretch device on the upper arm. The study is the first to test a prosthesis in combination with a skin-stretch rocking device for proprioception, and the work has been recognized as a finalist for best paper award at the conference. Read the entire article at: https://www.ecnmag.com/news/2017/05/tactile-feedback-adds-muscle-sense-prosthetic-hand https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-05/ru-tfa053017.php Links: The Rice Haptic Rocker: skin stretch haptic feedback with the Pisa/IIT SoftHand http://www.worldhaptics2017.org/program/oral-sessions http://mahilab.rice.edu/sites/mahilab.rice.edu/files/publications/CameraReady.pdf Tactile feedback adds 'muscle sense' to prosthetic hand (video 2:41) https://youtu.be/a6VWE_jckWg SoftPro test at MAYO Clinic (video 2:40) https://youtu.be/G-_7skCFBSg Tactile Feedback to the Skin Could Help Add “Muscle Sense” to Prosthetic Hand http://www.rehabpub.com/2017/06/tactile-feedback-skin-help-add-muscle-sense-prosthetic-hand New Tech Helps Amputees Feel https://www.rdmag.com/article/2017/06/new-tech-helps-amputees-feel --- Haptic Feedback Will Let Users Control Prosthetic Devices Better, Study Says From: International Business Times - 05/31/2017 By: Rishabh Jain Researchers at Rice University, the Italian Institute of Technology, and the University of Pisa in Italy have found that haptic feedback could help in providing patients the ability to discern the size and feel of objects without looking at them. The research will be presented at the World Haptics 2017 conference at Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany next Wednesday using 18 able-bodied subjects, who will be blindfolded and asked to feel and decipher objects using a skin-stretch upper arm device known as the Rice Haptic Rocker. It is a rubber pad fitted on the skin of the arm of a subject that does not stretch when the prosthetic hand is open, and stretches more as the hand closes. "We're using the tactile sensation on the skin as a replacement for information the brain would normally get from the muscles about hand position," says Rice University's Janelle Clark. The researchers hypothesize even non-invasive prosthetics could replicate the natural "muscle sense." Read the entire article and view a video (3:04) at: http://www.ibtimes.com/haptic-feedback-will-let-users-control-prosthetic-devices-better-study-says-2545709 Related: In Touch With Reality: Scientists Give Amputee World's First Prosthetic Touch Capable Hand http://www.ibtimes.com/touch-reality-scientists-give-amputee-worlds-first-prosthetic-touch-capable-hand-1553829