MSU: Neuroimplants for prosthetic limbs

2023: Product Announcement

At Moscow State University, M.V. Lomonosov created neuroimplants that allow people with prostheses to feel touched as before. The university spoke about this development at the end of November 2023.

The main result of the outgoing year is that our scientific group was able to develop a prototype of a neuroimplant in just six months, which in the future can be used, for example, for prosthetic limbs. It will allow the user to feel an artificial hand or leg, as well as better control them - such a device acts as a signal transmitter from nerve endings to the prosthesis and vice versa, - said TASS the head of the group for the development of invasive neurointerfaces at the Institute of artificial intelligence Moscow State University, senior researcher at the Institute of Physical and Chemical Biology named after A.N. Belozersky Moscow State University Vasily Popkov.

At Moscow State University, they created neuroimplants that allow people with prostheses to feel touched

Experts tested the device, they successfully implanted prototypes in the brain of rats and received data on electrical activity. Further plans include developing devices with varying degrees of invasiveness to select the depth of implantation into nerve tissue depending on the device's purpose, Popkov said.

Loss of sensitivity is a devastating consequence of upper limb loss. Bionic hand prostheses restore only some of the limb mechanics, but cannot restore sensory feedback. The prosthesis, separated from the sense of self, is perceived as an artificial tool independent of the body. Prosthesis users often have difficulty determining the position of the prosthesis in space, as the intended position of the prosthesis and the actual one do not match. The development of Moscow State University can solve this problem, but by the end of November 2023 it is not reported when the technology will become commercial.^[1]

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