"Interface scaffolds" could wire prosthetics directly into amputees' nervous systems
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Organic materials chemist Shawn Dirk. one of the leaders of the team developing the Sandia Lab neural interface (Image: Sandia Labs)
Robotics engineer Steve Buerger holding implantable neural interfaces being developed for artificial limbs (Image: Sandia Labs)
Test structure inserted into lab rats as part of the program to develop neural interfaces for prostheses (Image: Sandia Labs)
Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories have announced a breakthrough in prosthetics that may one day allow artificial limbs to be controlled by their wearers as naturally as organic ones, as well as providing sensations of touch and feeling. The scientists have developed a new interface consisting of a porous, flexible, conductive, biocompatible material through which nerve fibers can grow and act as a sort of junction through which nerve impulses can pass to the prosthesis and data from the prosthesis back to the nerve. If this new interface is successful, it has the potential to one day allow nerves to be connected directly to artificial limbs.
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