Improving control of amputees’ prostheses with implanted electrodes

For amputees who use prosthetics, control of their robotic limb is an important factor for their quality of life. The closer medical engineers can get to the function of a natural limb, the more comfortable the amputee tends to be, and comfort tends to correlate to confidence in using the prosthetic in everyday life.

Bioengineers at Imperial College London, collaborating with colleagues in the Medical University of Vienna, carried out a small-scale test on a group of amputees who had lost an arm above the elbow, and reported encouraging results in Science Robotics.

The research, which was led by the Vienna team, involved relocating nerves in the stumps of three patients, implanting wirelessly-chargeable electrodes and fitting new prostheses. In the paper, the team reports the patients found that, in the two years after the surgery, they could move their arms more easily and with better accuracy and precision.

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