In a First, a Prosthetic Limb Can Sense Temperature Like a Living Hand
In a First, a Prosthetic Limb Can Sense Temperature Like a Living Hand
The advance may help users feel a greater sense of human connection through touch
The device provides a realistic sense of hot and cold in the missing “phantom” hand by delivering thermal information to nerve areas on the amputee’s residual limb that the brain believes are still connected to the missing hand.
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It's not a first. I saw this in local trials in 1994. Physically, in person, not online.
Where?
Sabolich Prosthetics in Oklahoma. It was actually pretty simple; a higher frequency signal felt "hot" and a lower frequency signal felt "cold".
Had to ponder this, as at the time I was asked to stay quiet about it. But I never signed anything,it's unlikely the person I spoke to is even there any more, and it's been a long time.
Nah you're good, sabolich was recently sold to Hanger orthotics and prosthetics. You probably visited when John Sabolich was still running it, and actually still doing research. His son Scott took it over and just made it a cash cow.
But yeah, lots of these types of articles that make claims to "the first to" are only pedantically correct. It's usually just doing the same as someone else attempted 15 years ago, but this time with a fantasy new surgery that automatically predicates it from being meaningfully utilized anywhere.
Looks like this is similar to what you saw at sabolich years ago, but paired with nerve reintegration. Pretty sure orthotics and prosthetics is simultaneously one of the most over hyped and least understood topics covered by "scientific journalism". Every article Ive read about my field on social media has been comically inaccurate.
It sounds like instead of a different stimulus to differentiate between hot and cold (like what I think you describe) the limb in the article is able to stimulate nerves that feel “hot” vs “cold”
Either way that’s super cool you saw that back then, always awesome to see how stuff moves along over the years.