Prostheses with touch
Russian bionic prostheses will be able to feel the touch
Blog "Rehabilitation industry of Russia", Habr
Several developers of bionic prostheses in Russia have announced the introduction of technological solutions that will allow people with disabilities to literally touch the objects they touch.
So, the company "Motorika", a resident of the Skolkovo Foundation, has already started the second stage of research on the sensitivity of its prostheses. Thanks to the efforts of engineers and scientists, with the help of prostheses, people with disabilities will be able not only to solve everyday tasks, but also to restore the sensitivity of lost limbs.
Earlier, in April 2022, Motorika gathered a group of people with different types of shoulder and forearm injuries to participate in the development and testing of a new technology. Operations were performed to implant electrodes capable of transmitting tactile sensations. The medical direction of the project is led by Artur Biktimirov, a functional neurosurgeon at the Medical Center of the Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU).
At the first stage, the engineering teams of Motorika, Skoltech and FEFU undertook the selection of electrical stimulation parameters to prevent phantom pains.
After obtaining the necessary stimulation effect, the selection of parameters providing tactile sensations was carried out. The study uses an engineering sample of a bionic prosthesis of the company "Motorika" – Manifesto with advanced capabilities in terms of control and programming.
Today we can already talk about the preliminary results, which, according to the developers, turned out to be more than positive. When using a feedback prosthesis, patients experienced natural sensations simply by touching objects with the tips of the finger tips of the prosthesis. And one of the participants in the experiment was able to unclench the phantom hand for the first time.
"Together with Motorika and Skoltech, we analyzed the results of the first stage, and based on this, we corrected the tactics of our research. The activation of peripheral nerves was supplemented with spinal cord stimulation, experimental and neuromodulation paradigms were expanded, and the patient group was expanded. Now we take patients with a higher level of amputation — up to the shoulder. Thus, we plan to collect even more data to achieve the ultimate goal — the creation of a technology of prosthetic sensing," said Artur Biktimirov, a functional neurosurgeon at the FEFU Medical Center.
In "Motorika" they say that they are not going to stop there. The plans are to involve users of prostheses with lower limb injury in the study.
To participate, you need to leave a request on the website.
The company "Motorika" researches and develops technological prosthetics of hands: active traction and bionic. The company is also known for creating video games for the rehabilitation of people who have survived strokes and injuries. Together with the FEFU Medical Center, the company launched the Cyborg Island project to create a cyber-medical cluster on Russian Island to unite projects and companies that are also engaged in invasive research, technologies and high-tech rehabilitation tools.
The Russian Myolimb team, which has created bionic prosthetic hands with feedback, is also developing in a similar direction. Vladislav Bukin, the project leader, says that his device is put on the remaining limb and reads the processes occurring during muscle contraction through electrodes. This allows you to control the artificial brush.
Myolimb prostheses are unique in that they have a special block that squeezes the stump as much as a person squeezes his fingers. This is what is called "feedback". Thus, the patient receives tactile sensations and associates them with the work of the prosthesis. At the same time, the pressure point on the skin is able to move.
As a result, the owner of the prosthesis can, to one degree or another, feel the shape of the object that he touches with an artificial brush.
Daria Stepura, Deputy CEO of Myolimb, notes that the developed prostheses have high noise immunity, which helps to avoid "false triggering".
"False triggering" is the phenomenon when the prostheses are independently compressed or unclenched under the influence of the radio noise surrounding us. This sometimes happens in the subway. In particular, there are cases when a person could not let go of the handrail to get off at his stop.
Myolimb prostheses use mainly Russian parts and microchips, so the development costs at least twice as much as foreign analogues. The development has already been certified and testing on humans will start very soon.
The first test will be a young man who has lost both hands. But more volunteers are needed to speed up the process.
Anyone who wants to become testers of new bionic prostheses can contact the developers by writing to e-mail: mailbox@myolimb.ru.
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