American engineers have created an electric skin that can feel the pressure exerted on it and send a signal of pain in the nerves and brain of a person. Thanks to her, scientists were able to recreate a painful reflex in a limb prosthesis.
Scientists at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine under the direction of Luke Osborne worked on the invention. The specialists were also helped by a 29-year-old man with an amputation of both hands, reports mir24.tv.
The peripheral nerves in the remaining part of the patient’s limb were subjected to cutaneous electromyostimulation in order to mark different parts of the phantom arm. The man noted that he felt tingling at the place of his former fingers.
The equipment recorded the reaction of the somatosensory cortex to pain stimuli. These data were used in the development of artificial skin, which was called e-dermis.
The “skin” was created from several layers of rubber, fabric, conductors, and a piezoresistive material, the resistance of which changes with pressure.
Mechanical action on the sensor sends a signal to the elbow and median nerve endings. With a pressure of approximately 250 kilopascals, nociceptive nerve endings begin to be stimulated, and a signal about the appearance of pain is sent to the somatosensory cortex. The result is pain and, as a result, a painful reflex.
However, as noted by the developers, e-dermis so far only responds to external mechanical effects. Pain from thermal or chemical stimuli “skin” can not recognize.