Restoring Real Sensation to Prosthetic Hands; Afghan-Origin Scientist from Lausanne Polytechnic Explains to Voice of America

For individuals who have suffered amputations, the return of real sensations of touch, cold, and heat, just like they feel in their healthy limbs, is an exciting feeling. Restoring real sensation to the prosthetic limbs of amputees is the work that Dr. Soleiman Shakur and his team at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne have been engaged in for a long time. Their new focus is on restoring temperature sensation. Dr. Soleiman Shakur, a senior neuroscientist at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, explained to the Persian section of Voice of America that by placing thermal electrodes on the fingers and part of the remaining skin of amputees, they can return the sensation of warmth or cold to the prosthetic limb. The sensors, which do not require implantation or surgery, help these individuals feel the warmth of others, which is an important social aspect of this technology. Dr. Shakur, who published the results of this research in the journal 'Science', says: 'What people feel in their phantom hand is very similar to what they feel with their healthy hand.' For this study, Dr. Shakur and his team developed a device called 'Minitouch' that transmits thermal feedback and is specifically designed to be combined with wearable devices like prosthetics. The 'Minitouch' consists of a thin, wearable sensor that can be placed on the prosthetic finger of the amputee. This sensor detects thermal information about the object being touched. If the object is metallic, it naturally transfers more heat or cold compared to a plastic object. Then, the sensor that is in contact with the skin of the remaining arm of the amputee warms or cools and transmits the temperature characteristics of the object that the finger has touched. Twenty-seven amputees participated in the team's experiments, and 17 of them described it as successful. They also reported being able to distinguish between plastic, glass, and copper. Soleiman Shakur is of Afghan descent but emigrated from Kabul as a child. He has studied in Switzerland, Italy, and the United States. Dr. Shakur says that engineers in Afghanistan do not have sufficient facilities to create such technologies. He added: 'We hope to make this technology easy, simple, and affordable and provide it to all those who need it in Afghanistan and other countries around the world.' Soleiman Shakur says they intend to test this technology on a larger scale and then apply for international licenses.