Skip to content
A4 civilengineering
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Education
  • Community
  • Thought
  • Ongoing Happenings
  • Contact Us
Menu Close

Blog

Home » Ongoing Happenings » Neuroprosthetic hand provides tactile feedback
Neuroprosthetic hand provides tactile feedback | The Engineer
Engineers in the US and China have designed a neuroprosthetic hand that provides tactile feedback and a degree of primitive sensation in a volunteer’s residual limb.

The soft, lightweight, and potentially low-cost neuroprosthetic hand is the result of a collaboration between engineers at MIT and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

“This is not a product yet, but the performance is already similar or superior to existing neuroprosthetics, which we’re excited about,” said Xuanhe Zhao, professor of mechanical engineering and of civil and environmental engineering at MIT. “There’s huge potential to make this soft prosthetic very low cost, for low-income families who have suffered from amputation.”

Zhao and his colleagues have published their work in Nature Biomedical Engineering.

The team’s artificial hand – made from the commercial elastomer EcoFlex – comprises five balloon-like fingers embedded with segments of fibre, similar to articulated bones in actual fingers. The digits are connected to a 3D-printed ‘palm,’ shaped like a human hand.

First prosthetic hand with tactile sensations successfully implanted

Soft robotic hand shows skills playing Super Mario Bros

Rather than controlling each finger using mounted electrical motors the researchers used a pneumatic system to inflate fingers and bend them in specific positions. This system, including a small pump and valves, can be worn at the waist.

According to MIT, Lin developed a computer model to relate a finger’s desired position to the corresponding pressure a pump would have to apply to achieve that position. Using this model, the team developed a controller that directs the pneumatic system to inflate the fingers, in positions that mimic five common grasps.

The pneumatic system receives signals from electromyography sensors that measure electrical signals generated by motor neurons to control muscles. The sensors are fitted at the prosthetic’s opening, where it attaches to a user’s limb. In this arrangement, the sensors can pick up signals from a residual limb, such as when an amputee imagines making a fist.
Read More
www.theengineer.co.uk

Read more articles

Previous PostSmartDrone to Showcase New Discovery Drone Platform at AUVSI Xponential 2021
Next PostSmart laser cutter system detects different materials

You Might Also Like

Read more about the article UK-based Material Evolution secures €3M to create Smart Concrete made from hyper local waste streams

UK-based Material Evolution secures €3M to create Smart Concrete made from hyper local waste streams

December 7, 2021
Read more about the article Digital twins can help cities win the Race to Zero

Digital twins can help cities win the Race to Zero

September 30, 2021
Read more about the article ClearVue lands first Japanese order for smart windows

ClearVue lands first Japanese order for smart windows

September 3, 2021

Archives

  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021

Categories

  • 3D Printing
  • Air Quality
  • Architecture
  • Automation
  • BIM
  • Civil Software
  • Computer Vision
  • Constrcution Site
  • Digital Twin
  • Disaster
  • Earthquake
  • Edu Resource
  • Environmental
  • FreeCourse
  • Geotechnical Engineering
  • GIS
  • Industry News
  • Intelligent Transportation System
  • IOT
  • Market Analysis
  • Project Management
  • Remote Sensing
  • Sensors
  • Smart City
  • Smart Home
  • Smart Home/Building
  • Smart Materials
  • Structural Engineering
  • Structural Health Monitoring
  • Transportation
  • Uncategorized
  • Urban Planning

Recent Posts

  • Kontrol Technologies is in the thick of the commercial building upgrade supercycle
  • I-Bhd, China Mobile team up to build Malaysia’s first green smart building
  • FedEx launches AI-powered sorting robot to drive smart logistics
  • 8 trends shaping cities in 2022
  • DC joins growing list of cities requiring new buildings to include EV parking
A4 civilengineering
©2021 Privacy policy
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Education
  • Community
  • Thought
  • Ongoing Happenings
  • Contact Us

Enjoying the contents?

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter