New prosthetic hand amazingly gives user ability to 'feel'

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) created a prosthetic hand that can send sensations to the body, causing the user to feel the sensation of touching something.

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MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - Program manager Justin Sanchez said that they have wired "a sense of touch from a mechanical hand directly into the brain," creating an almost natural functionality from their 28-year-old paralyzed subject. The unnamed man passed a series of tests that included a reaction to taps on the mechanical fingers.

The revolutionizing prosthetic program completed the circuit with wiring directed to the brain which allowed the unnamed subject to feel the sensations of touching objects and of objects touching him. 

The man was reportedly paralyzed for over a decade and all previous technology was unable to generate the same outstanding results. It is the first time prosthetics could return signals back to the brain. All previous experiments had the brain sending signals to prosthetic appendages. 

"By wiring a sense of touch from a mechanical hand directly into the brain, this work shows the potential for seamless bio-technological restoration of near-natural function," said Sanchez. 

He explained that although the prior development of thought-controlled prosthetic limbs were already promising, having the sensation signals sent back to the brain is necessary to complete the hand's efficiency in performing precise movements.

According to the report, prosthetics "feel" by enabling wiring in the brain responsible for movement to control the mechanical hand. 

The Independent reported the man has a seamless record for reporting when he was touched and whether he was being touched or tapped on the fingers, almost naturally as if the prosthetics were his own hands.

"At one point, instead of pressing one finger, the team decided to press two without telling him. He responded in jest asking whether somebody was trying to play a trick on him. That is when we knew that the feelings he was perceiving through the robotic hand were near-natural," added Sanchez.

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