Sensitizing Prosthetics

Look at the typical prosthetic arm and it looks remarkably similar to one from the end of World War II. It straps across the back and uses a cable system to allow the user to control a metal hook by shrugging his or her other shoulder. Newer electric powered versions use external electrodes instead of a cable system to control them, look more life-like and allow for lifting heavier loads. But even they are limited to grasping and picking things up.

“The human hand can do a lot more than grasp and pick things up,” said Richard Weir, an associate professor in the University of Colorado Denver’s new…