Medical Design and Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • Med Tech Resources
    • Subscribe to Print Magazine
    • DeviceTalks Tuesdays
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • The Big 100
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Video
  • 2022 Leadership in MedTech
    • 2022 Leadership Voting!
    • 2021 Winners
    • 2020 Winners
  • Women in Medtech

Engineers Add Sense of Touch to Prosthetic Hand

September 24, 2018 By National Institutes of Health

Engineers at Johns Hopkins University have created an electronic skin, which when added to a prosthetic hand allows the user to feel objects as if through their own hand, including feeling pain when touching a sharp object.

The research team, funded through a training grant from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, created an “electronic skin” which they placed over the thumb and index finger of a prosthetic hand. The skin contains biosensors in a configuration that mimics the touch and pain receptors in human skin. The skin is electronically connected to the nerves in the arm that are involved in relaying the sensations of touch and pain to the brain.

Luke Osborn first author of the publication and a graduate student at the Johns Hopkins University Biomedical Instrumentation and Neuroengineering Laboratory, directed by professor Nitish Thakor, explained the design of the technology. “The electronic sensing skin we call an e-dermis was designed to fit over prosthetic devices that are already in use by individuals. It will allow the wearer to tell the shape of what he or she is picking up. Sharp objects will actually cause the feeling of pain, which is an attempt to give the person a range of realistic sensations. It could also help avoid picking up something sharp that could damage the prosthetic.”

This version of the e-dermis was designed to be able to distinguish a round shape from a pointed, pain-inducing shape. The team is working on expanding the abilities of the e-dermis to include temperature perception. Beyond making prosthetic fingers more human, the team envisions other uses for the technology such as enhancing the sense of touch in augmented reality systems. The e-dermis could also be incorporated into the gloves of astronauts where enhanced sensation could help them perform intricate tasks more quickly and with more precision.

Related Articles Read More >

Johnson & Johnson J&J DePuy Synthes
Surgeon wins $20M verdict against J&J’s DePuy Synthes
What happens when bionic eye implants suddenly go dark?
Ossur power knee
Össur launches next-gen Power Knee
Cleveland Clinic bionic arm Paul Marasco Zachary Thumser
Cleveland Clinic reports bionic arm breakthrough

DeviceTalks Weekly.

August 5, 2022
DTW Medtronic's Greg Smith lays out supply chain strategies
See More >

MDO Digital Edition

Digital Edition

Subscribe to Medical Design & Outsourcing. Bookmark, share and interact with the leading medical design engineering magazine today.

MEDTECH 100 INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.
DeviceTalks

DeviceTalks is a conversation among medical technology leaders. It's events, podcasts, webinars and one-on-one exchanges of ideas & insights.

DeviceTalks

New MedTech Resource

Medical Tubing

Enewsletter Subscriptions

Enewsletter Subscriptions

MassDevice

Mass Device

The Medical Device Business Journal. MassDevice is the leading medical device news business journal telling the stories of the devices that save lives.

Visit Website
MDO ad
Medical Design and Outsourcing
  • MassDevice
  • DeviceTalks
  • MedTech100 Index
  • Medical Tubing + Extrusion
  • Medical Design Sourcing
  • Drug Delivery Business News
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing World
  • R&D World
  • About Us/Contact
  • Advertise With Us
  • Subscribe to Print Magazine
  • Subscribe to E-newsletter
  • Attend our Monthly Webinars
  • Listen to our Weekly Podcasts
  • Join our DeviceTalks Tuesdays Discussion

Copyright © 2022 WTWH Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media LLC. Site Map | Privacy Policy | RSS

Search Medical Design & Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • Med Tech Resources
    • Subscribe to Print Magazine
    • DeviceTalks Tuesdays
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • The Big 100
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Video
  • 2022 Leadership in MedTech
    • 2022 Leadership Voting!
    • 2021 Winners
    • 2020 Winners
  • Women in Medtech