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UofM: wiring up nerves
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Seamlessly Melding Man and Machine
Tiny implants that connect to nerve cells could make it easier to control prosthetic limbs.
A novel implant seeded with muscle cells could better integrate prosthetic limbs with the body, allowing amputees greater control over robotic appendages. The construct, developed at the University of Michigan, consists of tiny cups, made from an electrically conductive polymer, that fit on nerve endings and attract the severed nerves. Electrical signals coming from the nerve can then be translated and used to move the limb.
"This looks like it could be an elegant way to control a prosthetic with fine movement," says Rutledge Ellis-Behnke, a scientist at MIT who was not involved in the research. "Rather than having a big dumb piece of plastic strapped to the arm, you could actually have an integrated tool that feels like it's part of the body."
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The new interface, developed by plastic surgeon Paul Cederna and colleagues, builds on this concept, using transplanted muscle cells as targets rather than intact muscle. After a limb is severed, the nerves that originally attached to it continue to sprout, searching for a new muscle with which to connect. (This biological process can sometimes create painful tangles of nerve tissue, called neuromas, at the tip of the severed limb.) "The nerve is constantly sending signals downstream to tell the hand what to do, even if the hand isn't there," says Cederna. "We can interpret those signals and use them to run a prosthesis."
The interface consists of a small cuplike structure about one-tenth of a millimeter in diameter that is surgically implanted at the end of the nerve, relaying both motor and sensory signals from the nerve to the prosthesis. Inside the cup is a scaffold of biological tissue seeded with muscle cells--because motor and sensory nerves make connections onto muscle in healthy tissue, the muscle cells provide a natural target for wandering nerve endings. The severed nerve grows into the cup and connects to the cells, transmitting electrical signals from the brain. Because it is coated with an electrically active polymer, the cup acts as a wire to pick up electrical signals and transmit them to a robotic limb. Cederna's team doesn't develop prostheses themselves, but he says the signals could be transmitted via existing wireless technology.
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Tiny implants that connect to nerve cells could make it easier to control prosthetic limbs.
A novel implant seeded with muscle cells could better integrate prosthetic limbs with the body, allowing amputees greater control over robotic appendages. The construct, developed at the University of Michigan, consists of tiny cups, made from an electrically conductive polymer, that fit on nerve endings and attract the severed nerves. Electrical signals coming from the nerve can then be translated and used to move the limb.
"This looks like it could be an elegant way to control a prosthetic with fine movement," says Rutledge Ellis-Behnke, a scientist at MIT who was not involved in the research. "Rather than having a big dumb piece of plastic strapped to the arm, you could actually have an integrated tool that feels like it's part of the body."
>
The new interface, developed by plastic surgeon Paul Cederna and colleagues, builds on this concept, using transplanted muscle cells as targets rather than intact muscle. After a limb is severed, the nerves that originally attached to it continue to sprout, searching for a new muscle with which to connect. (This biological process can sometimes create painful tangles of nerve tissue, called neuromas, at the tip of the severed limb.) "The nerve is constantly sending signals downstream to tell the hand what to do, even if the hand isn't there," says Cederna. "We can interpret those signals and use them to run a prosthesis."
The interface consists of a small cuplike structure about one-tenth of a millimeter in diameter that is surgically implanted at the end of the nerve, relaying both motor and sensory signals from the nerve to the prosthesis. Inside the cup is a scaffold of biological tissue seeded with muscle cells--because motor and sensory nerves make connections onto muscle in healthy tissue, the muscle cells provide a natural target for wandering nerve endings. The severed nerve grows into the cup and connects to the cells, transmitting electrical signals from the brain. Because it is coated with an electrically active polymer, the cup acts as a wire to pick up electrical signals and transmit them to a robotic limb. Cederna's team doesn't develop prostheses themselves, but he says the signals could be transmitted via existing wireless technology.
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