Posted on 12/07/2009 10:55:00 PM PST by neverdem
After being connected to a thought-controlled hand, Pierpaolo Petruzziello had to work hard to actually use it.
For nearly a month, 27-year-old Pierpaolo Petruzziello lived as the bionic man envisaged by many science fiction writers. With a bunch of electrodes sticking out of his arm, he could control a biomechanical hand connected to his nervous system by using thought, alone.
As Pierpaolo conveyed in an interview in Rome with Discovery News, the process was not an easy one, but it was worth the work.
"I have to be honest. If I could have watched in a movie all that I had to go through during this experience, I might have easily given up. But now I'm here, and I'm available for more experimentation if necessary," Petruzziello, who lost his left hand and forearm in a car accident three years ago, told me.
WATCH VIDEO: A robotic arm lends a hand and interacts with foreign environments.
To become the first person in the world who could make complex movements in a biomechanical hand using only the mind, Brazilian-born Petruzziello had to undergo two surgeries: one to implant four electrodes in two nerves of his remaining arm, and another, a month later, to remove the devices.
Developed in Germany by IBMT Institute Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, the tf-LIFE (thin-film Longitudinally-implanted IntraFascicular Electrodes) were designed to make robotic limbs feel like natural extensions of the body.
Acting like a bridge between the patient's stump and the robotic hand prosthesis, the electrodes basically work as neural interfaces. Through these devices, the brain and peripheral nerves send and receive information to and from the robotic limb, without using any muscle or sensory organ.
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At the same time, special sensors embedded in the cybernetic hand allow the patient to feel sensations.
"As I started the experimentation, I realized that controlling the hand by thought was quite an effort, mentally and physically. It's not like just thinking 'Now I close the hand, now I open it.' I had to close my eyes, concentrate in full silence, and persuade myself that my hand was still there. I also had to keep my arm in the same position for many hours and that was painful," Petruzziello said.
The trial was more than a full-time job for Petruzziello.
"So many times I said 'Let's stop here, I'll go back home.' My efforts started at 9 a.m. and ended at 6 p.m. -- all this each day, for 24 days. The Campus Bio-Medico became my home. But we were a team, and much depended on me. I felt a responsibility and knew that I could not give up," Petruzziello said.
Then, one day, Petruzziello's persistent efforts finally paid off.
"It was when I succeeded in making a fist. That was such a great moment, like scoring a goal at the last minute. The researchers looked at me, and I understood that we made something unique," Petruzziello said.
Replicating the human hand is quite a challenge from an engineering standpoint. A natural hand is moved by more than 30 muscles, has more than 10,000 sensors and can carry out extremely complex gripping, handling, exploration and communication tasks.
The biomechatronic hand developed by the engineeners of Pisa's Scuola Superiore Sant' Anna met the challenge. In the course of 24 days, Petruzziello was able to control up to three different types of movement. The neural interface was able to recognize signals sent by the brain more than 85 percent of the time.
Eventually Pierpaolo succeeded not only in clenching a fist, but also in wiggling the robotic fingers, including the little finger, and making a pincer grip, where the thumb meets with the index finger.
Being able to execute these types of grips can enable a person to carry out almost all activities required in daily life.
Another important aspect of the research was evaluating for the first time the changes that occur at the cerebral cortex level after the implant and neural interfaces are used by the patient.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) showed a significant reorganization of the motor areas related to the stump's muscles, resulting in a significant reduction of phantom limb pain -- a pathology that afflicts more than 65 percent of amputees, who continue to feel pain from the missing limb.
"These results make me proud of what I have done," Petruzziello said. "I like to think that I've done this for those who are suffering. I've lost a hand, but there are people who have lost much more or are paralyzed. I felt like I was helping science, for this I never gave up, and I'm happy now," Petruzzello said.
So far, the EU has spent $3 million and five years on this project. The next step is to work at improving the hand prototype and find a way to keep the hair-thin electrodes in for a much longer time. The ultimate goal is melding the human nervous system with a prosthesis, offering patients like Petruzziello a full autonomy after losing a limb.
In Petruzziello's case wires connected directly into the arm, but researchers have already devised a wireless connection system. The engineers have also developed a new hand prototype, called SmartHand. The five-fingered stainless steel prosthesis weighs only 3.5 ounces.
The researchers at the Campus Bio Medico have already begun looking for people to test the SmartHand. Interested candidates can contact the researchers at manorobotica@unicampus.it.
Meanwhile, Petruzziello has been assured he will be the first patient to receive the permanent implantation of the robotic hand.
"It's like a dream," Petruzziello said.
what if you have a bad thought?
bwahahahahhahaha!
Well, I have the bionic ear.
It isn’t so bad.
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FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.
Cheers!
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