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(Image source: John Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory)
BY JAMAL ANDRESS
Prosthetic limbs have mastered most functions the human body requires, but one feature that
has eluded scientists thus far is touch, until now.
Researchers from the University of Chicago published a paper Monday explaining how they
replicated the feeling of touch for monkeys through a prosthetic hand. (Via UMBMES)
The sense of touch humans naturally feel comes from nerve cells in various body parts, this
new method uses electrodes in the nerve cells' place.
Discovery explains it this way, "Just as natural limbs send signals to the brain, the artificial
one would do so, too, except it would be through electrodes linked to the relevant parts of
the brain rather than nerve cells."
The lead researcher for this study, says prosthetic hand development can't move forward without
the sense of touch.
"If you really want to create an arm that can actually be used dexterously without the
enormous amount of concentration it takes without sensory feedback, you need to restore
the somatosensory feedback." (Via University of Chicago)
This study is a part of the 'Revolutionizing Prosthetics' project which is funded by the,
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA. The goal of the project is to create
" ... artificial upper [limbs] that will restore natural motor control and sensation in amputees."
(Via YouTube / JHU Applied Physics Laboratory)
Researchers say the next step is to use this method as a blueprint for experiments on human
amputees.