Tricking amputees into accepting their prosthetic

A huge problem faced by amputees is that their prosthetic limb does not feel like it is part of their body.

Also amputees often feel the limb they have lost even though it is not there.

The use of virtual reality is helping those with prosthetic arms feel like these limbs are part of their own body.

Scientists have used sensory images to assess whether amputee nervous systems can adopt the artificial limb as part of the body.

If amputees ‘see’ the limb as part of their body using illusions of virtual reality it is more likely it will feel like it is their body.

Vision and touch have been used together in this way to trick the brains of amputees into thinking the artificial limb is theirs. Source.

 

 

Journal Reference:

Giulio Rognini, Francesco Maria Petrini, Stanisa Raspopovic, Giacomo Valle, Giuseppe Granata, Ivo Strauss, Marco Solcà, Javier Bello-Ruiz, Bruno Herbelin, Robin Mange, Edoardo D’Anna, Riccardo Di Iorio, Giovanni Di Pino, David Andreu, David Guiraud, Thomas Stieglitz, Paolo Maria Rossini, Andrea Serino, Silvestro Micera, Olaf Blanke. Multisensory bionic limb to achieve prosthesis embodiment and reduce distorted phantom limb perceptions. Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry (2018). DOI:10.1136/jnnp-2018-318570