Sensor technology extends range of movement for prosthetic arms

But the range of movements possible with existing robotic arms is severely limited, leading up to half of amputees using the devices to abandon them out of sheer frustration.

Now researchers at Imperial College London have developed sensor technology for use with robotic arms that should ultimately make it possible to carry out a far greater range of actions using the prosthetics.

The technology, published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering, is designed to detect signals from motor neurons - nerve cells in the spinal cord that control muscles via fibres known as axons - rather than the damaged muscle in the shoulder or arm.

This allows more signals to be detected by the sensors, meaning more commands could be programmed into the prosthetic limb, according to Dr Dario Farina at Imperial College London, who carried out much of the research while at the University Medical Centre Gottingen.

“We use muscle tissue to connect the nerves that are severed after amputation, so surgically these nerves are redirected into muscle tissue,” said Farina.