#13 Avatar Technology Digest / “Feeling“ artificial leg / Injectable brain implant etc.

Welcome to #13 Avatar Technology Digest. As always we bring you the latest news on Technology, Medical Cybernetics and Artificial Intelligence from the most trusted sources. 1) Scientists in Austria have created an artificial leg which allows the amputee to feel lifelike sensations from their foot. Prof Hubert Egger of the University of Linz, said sensors fitted to the sole of the artificial foot, stimulated nerves at the base of the stump. Surgeons first rewired nerve endings in the patient’s stump to place them close to the skin surface. Six sensors were fitted to the base of the foot, to measure the pressure of heel, toe and foot movement. These signals were relayed to a micro-controller which relayed them to stimulators inside the shaft where it touched the base of the stump. These vibrated, stimulating the nerve endings under the skin, which relayed the signals to the brain. The sensors tell the brain there is a foot and the wearer has the impression that it rolls off the ground when he walks. http://ww