Prosthetic Hands and a Sense of Touch

New and better sensory Haptics

Touchy Subject: 3D-Printed Fingertip 'Feels' Like Human Skin

University of Bristol News (U.K.), April 6, 2022

Researchers at the U.K.'s University of Bristol have developed a three-dimensionally (3D)-printed fingertip that could improve robotic dexterity and the performance of prosthetic hands via an in-built sense of touch. The artificial fingertip incorporates recordings of the human tactile sense using a 3D-printed mesh of pin-like papillae on the underside, which mimic those found in human skin. "Our 3D-printed tactile fingertip can produce artificial nerve signals that look like recordings from real, tactile neurons," explained Bristol's Nathan Lepora. He said the fingertip was able to "feel" the same ridged shapes used by psychologists, which scientists employed in 1981 to plot electrical recordings from human tactile nerves.  ... ' 

Towards a Bionic Eye

 As a means for providing new kinds of eye like sensors?   Many efforts in this space. 

Computer Model Fosters Potential Improvements to 'Bionic Eye' Technology

Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California

Wayne Lewis,  April 9, 2021

Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California used an advanced computer model to mimic the human retina, in order to improve prosthetic eye technology. The model replicates the shapes and positions of millions of nerve cells in the eye, along with their associated physical and networking characteristics. The Keck team focused on nerve cells that send visual information from the eye to the brain, and identified potential ways to boost clarity and grant color vision to future retinal prostheses. Said Keck's Gianluca Lazzi, "There’s a long road, but we’re walking in the right direction. We can gift these prosthetics with intelligence, and with knowledge comes power." .. ' 

Tracking Plastics Use without Batteries

We looked at the problem of how pharmaceuticals were being used.   This would have solved one of the problems we examined.

3D-printed plastic objects can track their own use without any electronics  in TechnologyReview.

Objects such as pill bottles or prosthetics can now send information on how they are being used without the need for batteries.

How does it work? The researchers embed antennas in the objects in such a way that that are activated when the object is moved in a specific way—such as when a pill bottle opens or closes. The changes in how the two antennae backscattered signals that were transmitted to it created a tell-tale pattern that carried information about how and when it was being used.

Potential applications? The team at the University of Washington believes its devices could be perfect for assistive technology like prosthetics, “smart” pill bottles that remind patients to take their daily medications, and insulin pens. It would let you monitor exactly how people are using these devices, and it wouldn’t matter if they got wet, lost a Wi-Fi signal or ran out of battery.  ... " 

And more on this directly from the U of Washington. ...