Researchers Unveil World's First 'Feeling' Artificial Leg

Researchers in Vienna recently showed off what is said to be the first artificial leg that can simulate the feelings of a real limb and reduce phantom pain.

Remaining foot nerve endings from a patient’s stump were “rewired” to healthy tissue in the thigh. Six sensors fitted on the foot sole of a prosthesis were then linked to artificial stimulators connected to the stump, allowing the sensors to Researchers Unveil World's First 'Feeling' Artificial Legsend the appropriate signals to the brain whenever the user applies pressure.

“In a healthy foot, skin receptors carry out this function but they are obviously missing here,” Professor Hubert Egger at the University of Linz in northern Austria told AFP. “However, the information conductors — the nerves — are still present, they’re just not being stimulated.”

“The sensors tell the brain there is a foot and the wearer has the impression that it rolls off the ground when he walks. All things considered, the procedure is a very simple one given the results.”

Wolfgang Rangger, who lost his leg in 2007 and has been testing the prosthesis for the past six months, told AFP that “it’s like a second lease of life.”

“It feels like I have a foot again. I no longer slip on ice and I can tell whether I walk on gravel, concrete, grass or sand. I can even feel small stones,” he said.

The prosthesis has also phased out the phantom pain Rangger experienced since his amputation, which happens when the brain seeks feedback about the removed limb. According to Egger, the “feeling prosthesis” reduces the phantom pain because it allows the brain to receive real data from the nerves again.

For more on scientific breakthroughs, check out how researchers were able to create a prosthetic hand capable of feeling different textures and successfully achieve telepathy.

Image Credit: Samuel Kubani/AFP

Jenna Pitcher is a freelance journalist writing for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter.