There are nearly 2 million people living with prosthetic limbs. For those having just been introduced to this world the idea of what is normal may have changed.
After the loss of a limb, patients are fitted with a proper prosthetic and have to undergo a long rehabilitation therapy to adapt and function with the new limb. For those of us not in this situation we may not consider the small hurdles and adjustments that have to be made for a person missing a limb such as the loss of feeling. Imagine if you will never being able to touch the softness of a carpet because your hand was amputated, or never being able to feel the sand at the beach between your toes. As of right now the only way a person with a prosthetic leg would know they have stepped onto sand is through visual feedback.
This is a major adjustment that one without a limb must face. Well as it may seem with another medical advancement all of that could possibly change. A fake limb that could feel.
Scientist from Northwestern University in Chicago are developing this idea and have already had success with their first two human trials. A nerve that would indicate touch would be placed on to the patient’s chest and sensors placed onto the limb would send messages back and forth.
In the study both patients were able to tell the difference between sand paper and regular paper. You can find more of these findings at the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This could very well be the first of many big medical advances for people with prostheses and giving them a little more of their normalcy back.
