Igor Spetic is a volunteer at the research center in the Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He uses his left hand, which is his own flesh and blood, and his right hand, a plastic metal prosthetic (a consequence of an industrial accident). The prosthetic in his right hand uses the “myoelectric” device which is controlled by flexing his muscles in his right arm.
Myoelectric prosthetics serves the purpose of an artificial limb while maintaining the appearance of the limb. Myoelectric prosthetics are different from body-powered prosthetics because body-powered prosthetics uses cables and harnesses strapped to the individual to mechanically and carefully guide the artificial limb through muscle, shoulder, and arm movements.
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Haptic systems recreate the sense of touch by applying forces, vibrations, or motions to the user, which enables them to recognize the objects through the process of touch. In the process of developing the Haptic system (a joint development by Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Functional Neural Interface Lab at Case Western Reserve University), Spetic grabs the cherry between his prosthetic thumb and forefinger so that he can pull off the stem. Instead, the fruit bursts between his fingers. Next, the Haptic system is used to stimulate different nerve fibers which produces realistic sensations that Spetic perceives as coming from his missing hand: when one spot is on his hand is stimulated, he feels a touch on his right palm; when another spot on his hand is stimulated, he feels a touch on his thumb; and so on until he can feel touch on most of his hand. Tests are then conducted to find out whether such sensations would give Spetic better control over his prosthetic hand. Thin film force sensors are put to the devices’ index finger, middle finger, and thumb. The signals from those sensors are then used to trigger the corresponding nerve stimulation. Once again, Spetic grabs another cherry. This time his touch is delicate and he is able to successfully pull the stem off the fruit without damaging