So this morning I went into work to help with the experiments being run this week. So I did that instead of riding. I also have a good bit of homework to get done; such as reading the Residual Function... article linked on the left. This article is a few years old, but still has a good bit of significance. We know that when a limb is amputated the brain area associated with the amputated limb is reassigned to other tasks to some degree. Also, because of disuse, there is some nerve degeneration that will occur in the nerve stump. Because of these problems it was unknown whether or not the nerve stump could be used to move a prosthetic limb or relay sensory data to the brain.
This article relates an experiment that showed that the stump could relay motor and sensor information from and to the brain. Further experiments need to be done as to the longevity of this ability, since this experiment was limited in scope. Furthermore, this experiment used a very few electrodes per amputee, many more will be needed for true functionality. Also, the electrodes used in this experiment, as is the standard with such experiments, used percutaneous (through the skin) connectors. More permanent solutions are being pursued in many laboratories including telemetry, percutaneous carbon connections and osseointegration. My website has a bit more information about this subject.
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