Engineers from Johns Hopkins University (USA) have created an innovative bionic hand prosthesis capable of holding everyday objects, including soft toys and water bottles. About this informs Science Daily.
This device has the ability to adjust the grip strength, similar to a human hand, to avoid damaging objects. A new prosthesis allows people who have lost their upper limbs to interact with their environment safely and naturally.
Like most bionic prostheses today, it is controlled by muscle signals from the forearm. These signals provide communication between the brain and the nerves that enable the arm to flex, extend, and respond to touch.
Nitish Thakor, a professor of biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins University who led the development, notes that the robotic arm has the ability to “intuitively” recognize the objects it comes into contact with, similar to the human nervous system.
“If you’re holding a cup of coffee, how do you know you’re about to drop it? Your palm and fingertips send signals to the brain that the cup is about to slip.
Our system is based on neural signals – it models the touch receptors of the hand to generate neural messages so that the prosthetic’s “brain”, or its computer, understands whether the object is hot or cold, soft or hard, or whether it will not slip out of the hand.” Thakor explained.
The prosthesis has a multi-finger system consisting of flexible polymers and a rigid internal framework printed on a 3D printer. Three layers of tactile sensors allow not only to touch objects, but also to grasp them and distinguish different textures, shapes and surfaces.
During tests in the laboratory, the device successfully identified and interacted with 15 different objects. These included stuffed toys, dishwashing sponges, cardboard boxes, pineapples, metal water bottles, and more.
