If you thought prosthetics couldn’t let you “feel” anything but only assist you in the most basic functions, think again. Surgeons have tried a unique method with Claudia Mitchell and have hot-wired the prosthetic to her brain via her shoulder nerves. As a result, she can not only control the mechanical arm by thought, but also feel sensations. The surgeons used a technique called “targeted reinnervation” and now, it helps her to send commands to the nerve centers in her arms and allows her to move and also feel the temperature, pain and pleasure. The electric impulses from her brain are sent through her chest muscles and are transmitted to the bionic limb where a computer encodes it and turns it into arm movements. This means that the doctors not only moved her motor nerves but also sensory nerves with it. This technology could help develop better prosthetics and, in fact, create a new field in the prosthetic technology and help people to not only have functional organs but also feel them.

Via: DailyMail317171