Bioengineered Robotic Hand with Its Own Nervous System Will Sense Touch
From: ECN Magazine - 11/14/2017

The sense of touch is often taken for granted. For someone without a limb or
hand, losing that sense of touch can be devastating. While highly
sophisticated prostheses with complex moving fingers and joints are available
to mimic almost every hand motion, they remain frustratingly difficult and
unnatural for the user. This is largely because they lack the tactile
experience that guides every movement. This void in sensation results in
limited use or abandonment of these very expensive artificial devices. So why
not make a prosthesis that can actually "feel" its environment?

That is exactly what an interdisciplinary team of scientists from Florida
Atlantic University and the University of Utah School of Medicine aims to do.
They are developing a first-of-its-kind bioengineered robotic hand that will
grow and adapt to its environment. This "living" robot will have its own
peripheral nervous system directly linking robotic sensors and actuators.
FAU’s College of Engineering and Computer Science is leading the
multidisciplinary team that has received a four-year, $1.3 million grant from
the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering of the
National Institutes of Health for a project titled "Virtual Neuroprosthesis:
Restoring Autonomy to People Suffering from Neurotrauma."

Read the entire article at:
https://www.ecnmag.com/news/2017/11/bioengineered-robotic-hand-its-own-nervous-system-will-sense-touch
https://www.mdtmag.com/news/2017/11/bioengineered-robotic-hand-its-own-nervous-system-will-sense-touch

Links:
Florida Atlantic University - College of Engineering and Computer Science
http://www.eng.fau.edu

More than a Feeling - This "Living" Robot Will Sense Touch
http://www.ome.fau.edu/news/1711_living-robot.php

BioRobotics Laboratory
http://eng.fau.edu/research/biorobotics/about.php

First-of-its-kind Bioengineered Robotic Hand to Sense Touch
http://www.fau.edu/newsdesk/articles/living-robot.php

NIH Grant Spurs Development of Bioengineered, “Living” Robotic Hand
http://www.rehabpub.com/2017/11/nih-grant-spurs-development-bioengineered-living-robotic-hand

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https://www.mdtmag.com/news/2016/11/precise-nerve-stimulation-electrode-implants-offers-new-hope-paralysis-patients