OANDP-L
  • Login
No Result
View All Result
The O&P EDGE
  • PECOS
  • Magazine
    • Subscription
    • Current Issue
    • Issue Archive
    • News Archive
    • Product & Service Directory
    • Advertising Information
    • EDGE Flipbooks
  • O&P Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
  • EDGE Advantage
    • EA Homepage
    • EA Data
  • O&P Facilities
  • Resources
    • Product & Service Directory
    • Calendar
    • Contact
    • About Us
    • O&P Library
    • The Guide
    • Custom Publications
    • Advertising Information
    • EDGE Direct
    • Amplitude Media Group
  • PECOS
  • Magazine
    • Subscription
    • Current Issue
    • Issue Archive
    • News Archive
    • Product & Service Directory
    • Advertising Information
    • EDGE Flipbooks
  • O&P Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
  • EDGE Advantage
    • EA Homepage
    • EA Data
  • O&P Facilities
  • Resources
    • Product & Service Directory
    • Calendar
    • Contact
    • About Us
    • O&P Library
    • The Guide
    • Custom Publications
    • Advertising Information
    • EDGE Direct
    • Amplitude Media Group
No Result
View All Result
The O&P EDGE Magazine
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Electronic Skin Allows Prosthetic Hands to Touch, Feel Pain

by The O&P EDGE
June 26, 2018
in News
0
SHARES
6
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

A team of engineers at Johns Hopkins University has created an electronic skin that will enable individuals with amputations to perceive the sense of touch and pain through prosthetic fingertips. When
layered on top of prosthetic hands, the electronic skin, or e-dermis,
brings back a real sense of touch through the fingertips, said Luke
Osborn, a graduate student in biomedical engineering who coauthored a
paper about the device.

Tactile
information from object grasping is transformed into a neuromorphic
signal through the prosthesis controller. The neuromorphic signal is
used to transcutaneously stimulate peripheral nerves of an amputee to
elicit sensory perceptions of touch and pain.

The
skin, made of fabric and rubber laced with sensors to mimic nerve
endings, senses stimuli and relays the impulses back to the peripheral
nerves. “We’ve made a sensor that goes over the fingertips of a
prosthetic hand and acts like your own skin would,” Osborn said. “It’s
inspired by what is happening in human biology, with receptors for both
touch and pain. This is interesting and new because now we can have a
prosthetic hand that is already on the market and fit it with an
e-dermis that can tell the wearer whether he or she is picking up
something that is round or whether it has sharp points.”

The work, published June 20 in the journal Science Robotics,
shows it is possible to restore a range of natural, touch-based
feelings to people who use prosthetic limbs. The ability to detect pain
could be useful, for instance, not only in prosthetic hands but also in
lower-limb prostheses, alerting the user to potential damage to the
device.

Human skin
contains a complex network of receptors that relay a variety of
sensations to the brain. This network provided a biological template for
the research team, which includes members from the Johns Hopkins
departments of biomedical engineering, electrical and computer
engineering, and neurology, and from the Singapore Institute of
Neurotechnology.

Bringing
a more human touch to modern prosthetic designs is critical, especially
when it comes to incorporating the ability to feel pain, Osborn said.
That is where the e-dermis comes in, conveying information to the person
with the amputation by stimulating peripheral nerves in the arm, making
the phantom limb come to life. The e-dermis device does this by
electrically stimulating the nerves in a noninvasive way, through the
skin, according to the paper’s senior author, Nitish Thakor, PhD, a
professor of biomedical engineering and director of the Biomedical
Instrumentation and Neuroengineering Laboratory at Johns Hopkins.

“For
the first time, a prosthesis can provide a range of perceptions, from
fine touch to noxious to an amputee, making it more like a human hand,”
says Thakor, co-founder of Infinite Biomedical Technologies, the
Baltimore-based company that provided the prosthetic hardware used in
the study.

The
e-dermis was tested for one year on an individual with an amputation
who volunteered in the Neuroengineering Laboratory at Johns Hopkins. The
subject frequently repeated the testing to demonstrate consistent
sensory perceptions via the e-dermis. The team has worked with four
other volunteers with amputations in other experiments to provide
sensory feedback.

The
team created a “neuromorphic model” that mimicked the touch and pain
receptors of the human nervous system, allowing the e-dermis to
electronically encode sensations just as the receptors in the skin
would. Tracking brain activity via EEG, the team determined that the
test subject was able to perceive these sensations in his phantom hand.

The
researchers then connected the output to the volunteer using
transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation. In a pain-detection task,
the team determined that the test subject and the prosthesis were able
to experience a natural, reflexive reaction to both pain while touching a
pointed object and non-pain when touching a round object.

This story was adapted from materials provided by Johns Hopkins University.

Related posts:

  1. New Electronic Skin Allows Prosthetic Hands to Touch, Feel Pain
  2. Upper-Limb Prosthetics: Seeking the Sense of Touch
  3. Non-pharmacologic Approaches to Residual Limb and Phantom Limb Pain
  4. Understanding and Managing Chronic Pain in the Traumatic Amputee
Previous Post

New Prosthetic Ankle Adapts to Rough Terrain, Stairs

Next Post

New Prosthetic Ankle Adapts to Rough Terrain and Stairs

Next Post

New Prosthetic Ankle Adapts to Rough Terrain and Stairs

Linkedin X-twitter Facebook

 SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE

 

RECENT NEWS

Get unlimited access!

Join EDGE ADVANTAGE and unlock The O&P EDGE's vast library of archived content.
SUBSCRIBE TODAY

O&P JOBS

Eastern

Orthotic/ Prosthetic Technician 

Eastern

Certified Prosthetist Orthotist (CPO)

Mountain

Idaho Business for Sale 

The O&P EDGE Magazine
 
Required 'Candidate' login to applying this job. Click here to logout And try again
 

Login to your account

  • Forgot Password? | Sign Up

Reset Password

  • Already have an account? Login

Enter the username or e-mail you used in your profile. A password reset link will be sent to you by email.

Signup to your Account

  • By clicking checkbox, you agree to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy

    Already have an account? Login

Close
No Result
View All Result
  • PECOS
  • MAGAZINE
    • SUBSCRIBE
    • CURRENT ISSUE
    • ISSUE ARCHIVE
    • NEWS ARCHIVE
    • PRODUCTS & SERVICES DIRECTORY
    • ADVERTISING INFORMATION
  • O&P JOBS
    • FIND A JOB
    • POST A JOB
  • EDGE ADVANTAGE
    • EA Homepage
    • EA Data
  • FACILITIES
  • RESOURCES
    • PRODUCTS & SERVICES DIRECTORY
    • CALENDAR
    • CONTACT
    • ABOUT US
    • O&P LIBRARY
    • THE GUIDE
    • CUSTOM PUBLICATIONS
    • ADVERTISING INFORMATION
    • EDGE DIRECT
    • AMPLITUDE
  • OANDP-L
  • LOGIN

© 2025 The O&P EDGE

Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?
 

Account Activation

Before you can login, you must activate your account with the code sent to your email address. If you did not receive this email, please check your junk/spam folder. Click here to resend the activation email. If you entered an incorrect email address, you will need to re-register with the correct email address.

 

© 2024 The O&P EDGE

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • EDGE Advantage
  • OANDP-L
  • Subscribe

CONTACT US

866-613-0257

[email protected]

201 E. 4th St.
Loveland, CO 80537

The most important industry news and events delivered directly to your inbox every week.

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • EDGE Advantage
  • OANDP-L
  • Subscribe

© 2025 The O&P EDGE

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
The O&P EDGE Magazine
 
Required 'Candidate' login to applying this job. Click here to logout And try again
 

Login to your account

  • Forgot Password? | Sign Up

Reset Password

  • Already have an account? Login

Enter the username or e-mail you used in your profile. A password reset link will be sent to you by email.

Signup to your Account

  • By clicking checkbox, you agree to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy

    Already have an account? Login

Close
No Result
View All Result
  • PECOS
  • MAGAZINE
    • SUBSCRIBE
    • CURRENT ISSUE
    • ISSUE ARCHIVE
    • NEWS ARCHIVE
    • PRODUCTS & SERVICES DIRECTORY
    • ADVERTISING INFORMATION
  • O&P JOBS
    • FIND A JOB
    • POST A JOB
  • EDGE ADVANTAGE
    • EA Homepage
    • EA Data
  • FACILITIES
  • RESOURCES
    • PRODUCTS & SERVICES DIRECTORY
    • CALENDAR
    • CONTACT
    • ABOUT US
    • O&P LIBRARY
    • THE GUIDE
    • CUSTOM PUBLICATIONS
    • ADVERTISING INFORMATION
    • EDGE DIRECT
    • AMPLITUDE
  • OANDP-L
  • LOGIN

© 2025 The O&P EDGE

Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?
 

Account Activation

Before you can login, you must activate your account with the code sent to your email address. If you did not receive this email, please check your junk/spam folder. Click here to resend the activation email. If you entered an incorrect email address, you will need to re-register with the correct email address.