Prosthetics

Scientists in China have developed an artificial skin for prosthetic devices and robotics that changes color in response to force, mimicking the bruising process to offer a visual sign that damage has taken place.

Although there have already been birds that received strap-on artificial legs, scientists are now reporting the first successful integration of a prosthetic foot directly into a stork's residual leg bone. They're describing the animal as the world's first "bionic bird."

A few years ago a designer named Dani Clode introduced the world to the Third Thumb, a robotic finger controlled using pressure sensors under one’s feet. Now neuroscientists are using the device to investigate how our brain's adapt to extra limbs.

There are now a number of materials designed to give robots or prostheses a sense of touch. And while most of them are thin and skin-like, a new alternative takes the form of a spongey foam – and it combines several desirable qualities.

For some time now, we've been hearing about prosthetic limbs that are designed to work with amputees' bodies. MIT researchers are taking a different approach, though, with a new type of amputation that facilitates the use of prostheses.

There are already computer vision systems and sensor-equipped gloves that can detect a person's hand gestures. Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley have developed an alternative technology, however, that offers some key advantages.

Whenever someone receives an implant such as an artificial hip, there's always a risk that it won't integrate with the surrounding bone, ultimately causing it to separate and fail. A new coating, however, has been created to keep that from happening.

An international team of scientists is reporting success with one of the most advanced bionic arms ever made. Users control the prosthesis just by thinking about it, while it feeds the sensation of touch back to the brain.

Insects rapidly transition between walking gaits, in response to external stimuli. Scientists have now created a robot that does the same thing, utilizing an artificial neural network – the tech might ultimately find use in better prostheses.

Various groups have already developed "thought-controlled" prosthetic hands, that respond to nerve impulses in the user's residual arm stump. A new system could make such hands easier than ever to use, by amplifying those impulses.

Scientists at Caltech and Stanford University have developed a tiny prosthetic that gives jellyfish an ability to swim faster while using less energy, all with the aim of one day using them to monitor the ocean environment.

Given that parents are already reluctant to buy fancy clothes that their tyke will soon outgrow, it follows that they would really question buying their amputee toddler a prosthetic arm. A new prosthesis, however, could prove to be quite inexpensive.