Examples Of Latest Research On Artificial Hands

30 September 2015

Jaime Allen

According to some sources, one of the earliest records of prosthetic (artificial) hands is that of the Roman general, Marcus Sergius, who lost his hand in battle. The general used a replacement fashioned out of iron to carry his shield while fighting. It is not difficult to imagine how primitive it must have been. Fortunately, the development of prosthetics has come a long way since those days, and there are much more that is still being done. Here are some of the latest designs that developers, doctors and other researchers are trying:

Mind-Controlled Prosthetic Hands

One of the best things about your natural body part is that you can control them with your mind. Therefore, when you want to lift a cup off the table, you just reach out and do it. Wouldn't it be great if you could do that with a prosthetic hand?

You aren't alone in wishing for this capability. According to Medgadget, researchers at the University of Houston have made a major step towards this direction. They have designed brain-computer interfaces that don't have to be implanted in your brains. Such interfaces interpret your brain signals so that the computer in your prosthetic hand can read (and vice versa), and allows you to control your artificial hands with your mind.

Inexpensive 3D Printed Prosthetic Hands

Prosthetic limbs do not come cheap, but there are people working on that too. One promising lead is that of using 3D printers to produce different parts of artificial hands. The parts can then be put together and worn by users. In fact, there are those who are already using 3D-printing technology to produce inexpensive prosthetics for children.

Artificial Hands with Feeling

Feeling is one of the things people miss most when using artificial body parts. For this reasons, researchers have been researching on how to add feeling to prosthetics. Different groups are reporting progress, and some are even conducting ongoing human trials.

An example of such an artificial hand is one fitted with force sensors that allow it to detect when an amputee's hand touches something. The sensors are connected to interfaces implanted into the amputee's upper arms to relay the sense of touch. The hope is that the current trials will yield data that can be used to improve them further, and one day you may have access to artificial hands with full feelings.

Most of these things may be in their research stages, but that doesn't mean that you can't find a reasonable prosthetic today. Research is producing new developments every day, and even these experimental ones may soon hit the streets. Get in touch with your doctor, who has access to the latest information concerning artificial limbs, for a consultation on what is available today. 

To learn more, contact a company like Cotton Orthotic and Prosthetic. 

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