The quest to build bionic limbs that feel like the real thing

November 12, 2024

A silicon brain hovering in a computer-generated background

(Nature) – Through brain implants, neural interfaces and skin grafts, researchers are starting to restore sensation for paralysed or amputated limbs.

Back in 1985, a car crash shattered three of Imbrie’s vertebrae and severed 70% of his spinal cord, leaving him with very limited sensation or mobility in parts of his body. Now, thanks to an implanted brain–computer interface (BCI), Imbrie can operate a robotic arm, and receive sensory information related to what that arm is doing. Imbrie spends four days a week, three hours at a time, testing, refining and tuning the device with a team of researchers at the University of Chicago in Illinois. (Read More)