The first dexterous and sentient hand prosthesis has been successfully implanted

[Judi Lynn]

Date:
February 5, 2019

Source:
Chalmers University of Technology

Summary:
A Swedish patient with hand amputation has become the first recipient of an osseo-neuromuscular implant to control a dexterous hand prosthesis. In a pioneering surgery, titanium implants were placed in the two forearm bones (radius and ulnar), from which electrodes to nerves and muscle were extended to extract signals to control a robotic hand and to provide tactile sensations. This makes it the first clinically viable, dexterous and sentient prosthetic hand usable in real life.


A female Swedish patient with hand amputation has become the first recipient of an osseo-neuromuscular implant to control a dexterous hand prosthesis. In a pioneering surgery, titanium implants were placed in the two forearm bones (radius and ulnar), from which electrodes to nerves and muscle were extended to extract signals to control a robotic hand and to provide tactile sensations. This makes it the first clinically viable, dexterous and sentient prosthetic hand usable in real life. The breakthrough is part of the European project DeTOP.

The new implant technology was developed in Sweden by a team lead by Dr. Max Ortiz Catalan at Integrum AB -- the company behind the first bone-anchored limb prosthesis using osseointegration -- and Chalmers University of Technology. This first-of-its-kind surgery, led by Prof. Rickard Brånemark and Dr. Paolo Sassu, took place at Sahlgrenska University Hospital as part of a larger project funded by the European Commission under Horizon 2020 called DeTOP (GA #687905).

The DeTOP project is coordinated by Prof. Christian Cipriani at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, and also includes Prensilia, the University of Gothenburg, Lund University, University of Essex, the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology, INAIL Prosthetic Center, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, and the Instituto Ortopedico Rizzoli.

More:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190205185204.htm

[Dead_Parrot]

1. Sentient?

Well that's unsettling.

[FiveGoodMen]

4. An added body part with a mind of its own

How many horror movies used that premise?

[CloudWatcher]

5. Thing?

I suspect Thing (of Addams family fame) might have something to say about this being the first sentient hand.

But seriously though ... what cool work! At last they're finding something useful to do with computers

[LakeSuperiorView]

6. A comic book artist loses his hand, which in turn takes on a murderous life of its own

The Hand. 1981

[Dead_Parrot]

7. I was thinking...

[lapfog_1]

2. video of the procedure

[happybird]

3. Wow!

Not only movements but tactile sensations, too. Amazing!