News Archive
New research could prompt major advances
NEW research into how the brain controls the movements of limbs could prompt major advances in the development of prosthetic limbs, it has been claimed.
Leicester University researchers Dr Tom Matheson and Professor Rodrigo Quian Quiroga have recently awarded more than £800,000 by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council to carry out the analysis of the sensory-motor control of limb movements.
The study will involve recording, analysing and manipulating the activity of individual nerve cells in locusts while they make aimed limb movements, and it is hoped it will help to uncover the general principles of organisation that underpin all limb movements.
NEW research into how the brain controls the movements of limbs could prompt major advances in the development of prosthetic limbs, it has been claimed.
Leicester University researchers Dr Tom Matheson and Professor Rodrigo Quian Quiroga have recently awarded more than £800,000 by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council to carry out the analysis of the sensory-motor control of limb movements.
The study will involve recording, analysing and manipulating the activity of individual nerve cells in locusts while they make aimed limb movements, and it is hoped it will help to uncover the general principles of organisation that underpin all limb movements.
New bionic hand designed to strike a perfect balance
A BIONIC hand which boasts the world's first commercially available powered wrist combining 135 degrees rotation and 35 degrees of both flexion/extension is to be launched.
The new Bebionic product range from RSLSteeper includes an adult-sized hand that is fully articulating and features four-grip patterns.
The thumb has two manually adjusted positions, the first to accommodate pinch grip and power grip.
A BIONIC hand which boasts the world's first commercially available powered wrist combining 135 degrees rotation and 35 degrees of both flexion/extension is to be launched.
The new Bebionic product range from RSLSteeper includes an adult-sized hand that is fully articulating and features four-grip patterns.
The thumb has two manually adjusted positions, the first to accommodate pinch grip and power grip.
New knee joint under development
A NEW kind of artificial knee joint that could help people with limb amputations walk more naturally is under development at a Scottish university.
Academics at the National Centre for Prosthetics and Orthotics at Strathclyde are investigating whether Nitinol, a 'memory metal', can be developed for
use in thermo-mechanical muscles to actively power artificial knee joints.
If successful, the technology will help replace lost muscle function, helping the user to walk with a natural gait and making it easier to navigate hills and stairs.
A NEW kind of artificial knee joint that could help people with limb amputations walk more naturally is under development at a Scottish university.
Academics at the National Centre for Prosthetics and Orthotics at Strathclyde are investigating whether Nitinol, a 'memory metal', can be developed for
use in thermo-mechanical muscles to actively power artificial knee joints.
If successful, the technology will help replace lost muscle function, helping the user to walk with a natural gait and making it easier to navigate hills and stairs.
Sock designed to reduce 'phantom pain'
A SOCK designed to reduce 'phantom pain' for amputees has been trialled by medics in Edinburgh.
Ninety per cent of patients at Astley Ainslie Hospital in Morningside testing the Relax Night socks reported a reduction in pain.
And 80 per cent of amputees at the prosthetics department within the south-east mobility and rehabilitation technology services (SMART) centre said they experienced less sleep disruption at night.
A SOCK designed to reduce 'phantom pain' for amputees has been trialled by medics in Edinburgh.
Ninety per cent of patients at Astley Ainslie Hospital in Morningside testing the Relax Night socks reported a reduction in pain.
And 80 per cent of amputees at the prosthetics department within the south-east mobility and rehabilitation technology services (SMART) centre said they experienced less sleep disruption at night.
