Swedish researchers say they are taking hopes for fully functioning artificial limbs to the next level.
A Swedish research team is developing a robot arm that will be controlled by the "mind" and work like a natural arm and hand.
The researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, plan to attach the arm directly to the nervous system of patients.
They believe it will then be possible for the user to control fingers, hands and joints from the mind.
So far they have shown they can develop a hand which can be controlled by a computer detecting the activity of a scientist’s mind in controlling muscles.
Although the device looks as though it is merely performing video game-style copying of the researcher’s actions, it is in fact following instructions directly from his mind.
Max Ortiz Catalan said he planned to use a titanium implant to anchor the artificial limb directly to the patient’s skeleton – instead of simply trying to fit it to the amputated stump.
Researchers plan trial operations in a matter of weeks.
He said: “Osseointegration is vital to our success. We are now using the technology to gain permanent access to the electrodes that we will attach directly to nerves and muscles."
"Many of the patients that we work with have been amputees for more than 10 years, and have almost never thought about moving their missing hand during this time.
"When they arrived here, they got to test our virtual-reality environment or our more advanced prostheses in order to evaluate the decoding algorithms. We placed electrodes on their amputation stumps, and after a few minutes, they were able to control the artificial limbs in ways that they didn’t know they could, most of the times.
"This made the patients very excited and enthusiastic."
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