{"id":97456,"date":"2019-10-15T13:22:32","date_gmt":"2019-10-15T20:22:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2019\/10\/moving-beyond-mind-controlled-limbs-to-prosthetics-that-can-actually-feel"},"modified":"2019-10-15T13:22:32","modified_gmt":"2019-10-15T20:22:32","slug":"moving-beyond-mind-controlled-limbs-to-prosthetics-that-can-actually-feel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2019\/10\/moving-beyond-mind-controlled-limbs-to-prosthetics-that-can-actually-feel","title":{"rendered":"Moving Beyond Mind-Controlled Limbs to Prosthetics That Can Actually \u2018Feel\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<p><iframe style=\"display: block; margin: 0 auto; width: 100%; aspect-ratio: 4\/3; object-fit: contain;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/T_XPRI7in9g?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope;\n   picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Brain-machine interface enthusiasts often gush about \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/singularityhub.com\/2018\/04\/04\/new-bionic-arm-blurs-line-between-self-and-machine-for-wearers\/\">closing the loop<\/a>.\u201d It\u2019s for good reason. On the implant level, it means engineering smarter probes that only activate when they detect faulty electrical signals in brain circuits. Elon Musk\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.neuralink.com\/\">Neuralink<\/a>\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/www.novelaneuro.com\/\">among<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/kernel.co\/\">other<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/paradromics.com\/\">players<\/a>\u2014are readily pursuing these bi-directional implants that both measure and zap the brain.<\/p>\n<p>But to scientists laboring to restore functionality to <a href=\"https:\/\/singularityhub.com\/2016\/08\/16\/paralyzed-patients-able-to-move-after-using-a-mind-controlled-exoskeleton\/\">paralyzed patients<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/singularityhub.com\/2017\/11\/27\/thought-controlled-prosthetic-hand-delivers-100-realistic-sensations\/\">amputees<\/a>, \u201cclosing the loop\u201d has broader connotations. Building smart mind-controlled robotic limbs isn\u2019t enough; the next frontier is restoring sensation in offline body parts. To truly meld biology with machine, the robotic appendage has to \u201cfeel one\u201d with the body.<\/p>\n<p>This month, two studies from <em>Science Robotics<\/em> describe complementary ways forward. <a href=\"http:\/\/robotics.sciencemag.org\/lookup\/doi\/10.1126\/scirobotics.aax2352\">In one<\/a>, scientists from the University of Utah paired a state-of-the-art robotic arm\u2014the DEKA LUKE\u2014with electrically stimulating remaining nerves above the attachment point. Using artificial zaps to mimic the skin\u2019s natural response patterns to touch, the team dramatically increased the patient\u2019s ability to identify objects. Without much training, he could easily discriminate between the small and large and the soft and hard while blindfolded and wearing headphones.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Brain-machine interface enthusiasts often gush about \u201cclosing the loop.\u201d It\u2019s for good reason. On the implant level, it means engineering smarter probes that only activate when they detect faulty electrical signals in brain circuits. Elon Musk\u2019s Neuralink\u2014among other players\u2014are readily pursuing these bi-directional implants that both measure and zap the brain. But to scientists laboring [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":537,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1499,2019,38,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biotech-medical","category-cyborgs","category-elon-musk","category-engineering","category-robotics-ai"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/537"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97456\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}