Skip to main content

SmartHand brings movement AND touch to amputees

By




Scientists have successfully wired a state-of-the-art artificial hand to existing nerve endings in the stump of a severed arm. Its creators say the device, called “SmartHand,” resembles a real hand in function, sensitivity and appearance. In order to develop such an intelligent artificial prosthetic hand with all the basic features displayed by a real one, the SmartHand team integrated recent advances in nanobioscience, cognitive neuroscience and information technologies.
The artificial SmartHand, built by a team of top European Union and Israeli scientists, features four electric motors and 40 sensors that are activated when the SmartHand touches an object, not only replicating the movement of a human hand, but also providing the wearer with a sensation of feeling and touch.
Robin af Ekenstam of Sweden, the project's first human subject, has not only been able to complete extremely complicated tasks like eating and writing, he reports he is also able to "feel" his fingers once again.
"I am using muscles which I haven't used for years. I grab something hard, and then I can feel it in the fingertips, which is strange, as I don't have them anymore. It's amazing," Ekenstam told a television interviewer. Thankfully the SmartHand will belong to Ekenstam as long as he wishes. While the prototype looks very "bionic" now, in the future SmartHand scientists plan to equip it with artificial skin that will give the brain even more tactile feedback. The researchers will also study amputees equipped with the SmartHand to understand how to improve the device over time.
Although the SmartHand project focused on hands, the researchers say they could also have built bionic legs to be wired to the brain. The team first chose to build a hand, however, because of its unique challenges. "The fingers in the hand are the most complex appendages we have," Prof. Shacham-Diamand observes. "The brain needs to synchronize the movement of each digit in a very complicated way."
The SmartHand project is a collaboration between Tel Aviv University (Israel), ARTS Lab, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna (Italy), Aalborg University (Denmark), Tyndall Institute (Ireland), Össur (Iceland) and SciTech Link HB (Sweden).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nine government sites hit by cyber attacks: NIC

By
The National Informatics Center (NIC) has revealed that as many as nine government websites were defaced by recent cyber attacks. The center further said that the servers, which hosts these government sites, suffer a number of hacking attempts on a daily basis. The websites www.kumbh2010haridwar.gov.in, www.ueppcb.uk.gov.in, www.gov.ua.nic.in/ujn, www.cdodoon.gov.in, www.arunachal.nic.in,www.bee-india.nic.in, www.civilsupplieskerala.gov.in, www.mpcb.gov.in and www.informatics.nic.in were  defaced , prompting authorities to  ramp up  the cyber security safeguards. In an RTI reply, the NIC, which reports to the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, said that it was impossible for the body to accurately quantify these attacks but they are usually blocked by security controls put in place. The Ministry was asked to provide details of hacking attempts made on the governments websites in the last ten years (2001-11) along with url names of the portal...
1 comment
Read more

Solar car hits U.S. in round-the-world jaunt

By
Last October, the SolarWorld GT solar-powered car set out from Darwin, Australia on a drive around the world. It has since driven 3,001 kilometers (1,865 miles) across Australia, logged 1,947 km (1,210 miles) crossing New Zealand and been shipped across the Pacific Ocean. This Friday, it will embark on the U.S. leg of its journey, as it sets out across America from the University of California, Santa Barbara.   The SolarWorld GT is the result of a collaboration between solar panel manufacturer SolarWorld, and Bochum University of Applied Sciences in Germany. The four-wheeled, two-door, two-seat car gathers solar energy through photovoltaic panels built into its roof, with its solar generator offering a peak performance of 823 watts. Custom hub motors are located in both of the front wheels. The vehicle manages an average speed of 50 km/h (31 mph), with a claimed top speed of 100 km/h (62 mph). In order to demonstrate that solar powered cars needn't be a radical...
Post a Comment
Read more

Google and Stanford early adopters of Honda Fit EV

By
Honda's first all-electric vehicle is hitting the streets a little early. The  Honda Fit EV  debuted at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November 2011, and it's expected to be     available for lease this summer. However,  Honda announced  that Google and Stanford University got a special early delivery of the tiny EV this week.The Honda Fit EV is equipped with a 20kWh lithium ion battery, and has an EPA estimated driving range of 76 miles. Google added the EV to its  car -sharing service for employees, dubbed the G-Fleet, in    Mountain View, Calif. The search giant maintains several electric and plug-in vehicles that it uses for research and to cart Googlers around town and between buildings on campus. Stanford University also is an early adopter of the Fit EV, but will be using it primarily for research. The university's automotive research department will study the difference in psychological and physical reactions of using battery...
Post a Comment
Read more