Motility Cyberprotheses of the hand

Main article: Bionic prostheses

2024: Installing neuroprostheses that make amputees feel their hands without phantom pain

In the summer of 2024, the first installations of neuroprostheses began in Russia, thanks to which people who have undergone amputations can feel their lost limbs without phantom pain. This revolutionary technology aims to significantly improve the quality of life of patients facing amputations and opens up new prospects for rehabilitation. The development of neuroprostheses has been carried out since 2021 by the joint efforts of Motorika, the Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) and the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech).

According to Izvestia, the new neuroprosthetic system is equipped with sensory feedback, which allows patients to feel objects, distinguish their size, texture and degree of hardness. The device is controlled through an electromyographic interface and transmits signals to the peripheral nervous system, causing electrical stimulation that gives a sense of movement and control over the lost limb. As noted by the general director of the company "Motorica" Andrei Davidyuk, this stage of research is of great importance, since patients get the opportunity to move without restrictions and feel their lost hand almost like a real one.

source = Motorica Press Service

The patient who took part in the last stage of testing had previously lost his hand and suffered from severe phantom pain for a long time. However, with the help of the new technology, scientists managed to reduce pain by 70-80%, and after installing the prosthesis - to completely save the patient from phantom pain. Arthur Biktimirov, neurosurgeon of the FEFU Medical Complex, emphasized that this achievement paves the way for a long-term effect and an improvement in the quality of life of patients with amputations. Now experts plan to continue monitoring patients in order to assess the long-term results from the use of neuroprostheses.

Neuroprosthetic technology continues to evolve. During the last stage of research, a bidirectional prosthesis was first implemented, which is not only controlled by neural signals, but also transmits tactile sensations to lost limbs. This allowed the patient not only to successfully perform complex tasks with the prosthesis, but also to move fragile objects such as a glass of balls without damaging them.^[1]

2021: Creating functional hand prostheses sensitive to touch screens

On July 22, 2021, the company Motility"" announced Zdrav.Expert the use graphene nanotubes of electrically conductive silicones in floor pads to create functional prostheses of hands sensitive to touch screens. Cyberartificial limbs with this function, they cost 10-15 times cheaper than their closest counterparts, the price of which reaches 30,000. dollars

In Russia, they created prosthetic hands with Touch Screen function 10-15 times cheaper than analogues

As of July 2021, more than 1.5 million people live in the world without hands. At the same time, according to the International Health Organization, only 1 in 10 people without hands in the world receives the necessary assistance in prosthetics, and in developing countries - only 5% of all those in need.

The prosthesis should not be a small-scale and expensive medical device, but should become affordable wearable electronics, like a smart watch or smartphone. We not only restore the functionality of the hand, but also expand it, told Vasily Khlebnikov, co-founder and development director of Motorics , a Russian developer and manufacturer of functional cyber hands.

One of the company's products is a prosthetic brush with the ability to work with touch screens. The feature comes with the company's electrically conductive silicone overlays with Tuball graphene nanontubes that OCSiAl transmit the human body's electric currents. Such floorings are installed on traction bionic prostheses and in basic trim levels. The technology is effective for all kinds of touch displays.

For July 2021, more complex and expensive technologies developed for bionic prostheses are used on the market, where electric current is generated using electronic filling and output to one of the pillows. We use electrically conductive silicone that solves this problem without an additional current source. At the request of customers, we can make a pillow with touch-screen function on all the fingers of the prosthesis, but as a rule, the index finger or little finger is enough, noted Ilya Chekh, co-founder and CEO of Motorika.

Applications of graphene nanotubes continue to expand. Flexible and ultra-strong graphene nanotubes resemble a long human hair in shape, only 50 thousand times thinner than it. Due to such morphology and characteristics, graphene nanotubes, entering the material, endow it with a special combination of properties. In addition to silicones, they are used in dozens of other polymers and electrochemical current sources.