back to article First man/machine nerve grafts restore amputee's sense of touch

After years of research and hours of gruelling surgery, scientists have successfully attached sensors from a prosthetic hand to human nerve tissue to allow the device to give its wearer a sense of touch. A prosthetic hand with a sense of touch Lucky Dane gets to feel balls again "The sensory feedback was incredible," …

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  1. Mr C

    glad to see those minds put to good use

    Glad to see that the human brainpower of those scientists was put to good use.

    Now all we need to do is hope that the result is used for something positive and constructive, and that it will be available to those that are in need of it.

    1. LarsG

      Re: glad to see those minds put to good use

      This is something useful and pretty amazing.

      Does this mean that this guy is now one of the worlds first true cyborgs?

      1. Khaptain Silver badge

        Re: glad to see those minds put to good use

        "Does this mean that this guy is now one of the worlds first true cyborgs?"

        Not quite at T800 standards but definately getting there.

        Impressive work all round, let's pray that the military doesn't invent a less positive use for it.

        1. Dreadogastus

          Re: glad to see those minds put to good use

          Tut-tut my boy. Haven't you heard of the old science-fiction maxim: All new technologies have good and evil uses.

      2. Havin_it

        Re: glad to see those minds put to good use

        >Does this mean that this guy is now one of the worlds first true cyborgs?

        First? Not by a long chalk. What distinguishes him, in functional terms, from owners of

        Hip/knee replacements

        Glasses/contact lenses

        Cochlear implants

        Breast implants

        False teeth

        or even regular limb prostheses, for that matter?

        1. Paul Webb
          Terminator

          Re: glad to see those minds put to good use

          No Captain Cyborg? Still malfunctioning all over Reading...

        2. Allan George Dyer
          Thumb Up

          Re: glad to see those minds put to good use

          @Havin_it: The difference is the neurone interface and closing the feedback loop. I would rate this alongside Cochlear implants, but the others are mere mechanical attachments compared to these.

          1. This post has been deleted by its author

        3. jonathanb Silver badge

          Re: glad to see those minds put to good use

          The difference is having electronic sensors wired directly into his nervous system, and from there to his brain.

        4. Benchops

          > First? Not by a long chalk

          You forgot to mention the first neanderthal to use furs for clothes. Definitely the first cyborg.

        5. Wzrd1 Silver badge

          Re: glad to see those minds put to good use

          "Glasses/contact lenses"

          "False teeth"

          Go away, son. You bother me.

          Intra-ocular implants. Got one, getting ready for another, due to trauma induced cataracts.

          Dental implants.

          Notice the implant part?

          Not glasses and false teeth?

          Though, I could use a few dental implants, due to the deleterious effects of my experiences over the handful of decades of harsh duties...

          Aw, screw that! I need a full body transplant.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Remember

      The Six Million Dollar Man, Steve Austin?

      He had two bionic legs, a bionic arm and a bionic eye.

      "We can rebuild him, we have the technology!"

      So how much would it cost today compared to 1973?

      1. PunkTiger

        Re: Remember

        Well, according to the US Inflation Calculator, if it cost $6,000,000 in 1973, it'll cost $31,480,675.68 today.

        That'll be a rather unwieldy title for a TV show, though.

    3. Wzrd1 Silver badge

      Re: glad to see those minds put to good use

      Due to the "grueling surgery" constraints, I suspect that it'll be put to good use.

      Well, save in the US, where only the wealthy limb losers will get one.

      Still, I honestly thought I'd be long retired before I got to see this development! Tactile feedback has long been in its infancy! Now, it's in its toddlerhood!

      As annoying a time as it is to live in, politically and socially, it's really a great time to live in technologically in terms of witnessing major advances.

      Who knows? We might all yet get to witness the Grand Unified Theory of Stupidity formulated.

      Not sure who'll get it yet. The US, Russia or North Korea. Though, I'll give the PRC points for trying at times, though it's largely been a half-hearted attempt.

  2. JDX Gold badge

    we can rebuild him, temporarily

    We have the technology

    1. Vladimir Plouzhnikov

      Re: we can rebuild him, temporarily

      "Well, if we can help you we will,

      Soon as you're tired and ill.

      With your consent

      We can experiment further still.

      Well, thanks to our kindness and skill

      You'll have no trouble until

      You catch your breath

      And the nurse will present you the bill!"

  3. wowfood

    Why can I see

    This tech being adopted by the military for their Talos project, or something similar. I mean sure having somebody in an ironman style suit is nice and all, but without a sense of touch the feedback is hard to grasp

    (speaking from semi experience here of playing about with a mechanical glove picking up virtual objects at Reading Uni. You could see the object, you could see the virtual hand grasp them, you could feel the pressure being pushed back against the glove even. But with no sense of touch it was hard to keep hold of anything.)

    I mean I'm not saying it'll be used exclusively for military uses. But I can easily see this being appropriated as such.

    On the main subject of the article though. That is pretty damn amazing. And considering they had to implant electrodes into his arm, I'm surprised they didn't let him keep it for more long term testing. No idea how long those electrodes will last.

  4. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Unhappy

    Actually the military is about the biggest generator of amputees in Western society.

    So yes they do fund a lot of research in this area.

    OTOH It's interesting that none of the teams is US based.

    As for the rest of the world most of the people who lose limbs are just poor for it to matter.

    1. D@v3
      Joke

      Re: OTO Hand....

      I like what you did there...

  5. Ben Rosenthal

    I'll buy that for a dollar!

  6. Crisp
    Coffee/keyboard

    Lucky Dane gets to feel balls again

    If I were Iain Thomson, I'd start buying keyboards wholesale...

  7. Andrew Newstead

    This just the start

    I think this fantasticly exciting. If we can put a signal into a nerve imagine an electronic bypass system that reconnects a broken spinal column.

    If I was a tetraplegic I would voulunteer for experiments like a flash. Even it didn't work it would be valuable to know and an honour to take part.

  8. MrDamage Silver badge

    100% Control

    Could be obtained within an hour or two, simply by giving him a copy of Jugs/Playboy/Penthouse/Hustler, and leaving him alone.

    1. Martin Budden Silver badge
      Paris Hilton

      Re: 100% Control

      The fact that you are posting here means you know how to use an Internets, yet you refer to magazines?

      Obvious icon is obvious.

      1. MrDamage Silver badge

        Re: 100% Control

        And you do realise that most of the scientific institutions that do this kind of research would have their own blocks on those sorts of websites, and the effort involved in convincing management to allow grumble flicks through the filter means its quicker and easier to pop down to the local newsagent and pick up a handful of magazines instead.

  9. Jim84

    Chainsaw arm

    The next experiment definitely needs to be attaching a mind controlled touch enabled chainsaw. Just like Ash in Evil Dead 3: Army of Darkness.

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