More advances in prosthetic technology

What will they come out with next?

Apparently, a prosthetic that allows you to feel.

According to a recent USA Today article, trials and studies are being done on a prosthetic hand that connects to electrodes surgically implanted in the amputee’s nerves, and it seems to be working.

The man who participated in the study in Switzerland said “it was magic” when researchers placed an item in his hand and he could feel that it was a baseball.

I think “magical” sounds like a pretty accurate description. One of the struggles, at least to me, with prosthetics now is that you can’t feel anything so you’re sense of what you’re doing with it is thrown off. You might not even realize you’re crushing a pop can, for example.

Before reading this article, I probably would have said what I wanted most was something waterproof, but that’s likely because I never would have thought having the feeling back was possible. Being waterproof is nothing compared to having feelings back.

Prosthetics have come a long way in recent years, don’t get me wrong, but this is the next logical step. The ability to have the fingers move individually exists and is improving with myoelectric hands, which is great. But now let’s get the ability to touch and feel. The concept is fairly similar to how myoelectric hands work now, except in this case the electrodes aren’t on the outside of your arm, they are implanted inside.

Given the surgery necessary for something like this, I’m sure it will be years before it starts spreading throughout the United States, but it’s a good sign of what’s to come.