Researchers have made significant progress in creating bionic limbs that can sense and convey touch to users. A new study published this week introduced a brain-computer interface (BCI) device that can reproduce complex tactile sensations, allowing volunteers with spinal cord injuries to perform tasks with greater accuracy.
The BCI system uses intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) of the brain’s somatosensory cortex to bridge the gap between artificial touch and human sensation. The researchers recruited two people with spinal cord injuries and implanted them with brain electrodes that recorded their brain activity as they thought about using their paralyzed limbs.
The volunteers were then connected to a BCI device that acted as a bionic limb, which was outfitted with sensors that communicated with the brain implants. The researchers successfully translated and sent complex sensations related to touch through the bionic limb into the volunteers’ brain implants, allowing them to feel tactile sensations as if they were coming from their own hands.
The study’s findings suggest that the device can convey information about texture, material properties, local contours, and motion of objects across the skin. This richness in sensation is crucial for achieving the level of dexterity, manipulation, and a highly dimensional tactile experience typical of the human hand.
While more complex sensors and robotic technology are needed to truly capture the sensations that researchers can now encode and convey, the study offers evidence that the path to restoring touch is becoming clearer. The immediate next phase of research will focus on testing the BCI systems in more naturalistic settings, such as patients’ homes, with the ultimate goal of improving independence and quality of life for people with disabilities.
Source: https://gizmodo.com/brain-controlled-bionic-hand-offers-most-advanced-artificial-touch-yet-2000551357