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Phoenix666 [soylentnews.org] writes:

Scientists have developed sensor technology for a robotic prosthetic arm that detects signals from nerves in the spinal cord [sciencedaily.com].

To control the prosthetic, the patient has to think like they are controlling a phantom arm and imagine some simple manoeuvres, such as pinching two fingers together. The sensor technology interprets the electrical signals sent from spinal motor neurons and uses them as commands.

A motor neuron is a nerve cell that is located in the spinal cord. Its fibres, called axons, project outside the spinal cord to directly control muscles in the body.
...
The team in this study, published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering, say detecting signals from spinal motor neurons in parts of the body undamaged by amputation, instead of remnant muscle fibre, means that more signals can be detected by the sensors connected to the prosthetic. This means that ultimately more commands could be programmed into the robotic prosthetic, making it more functional.

Elective surgery to route nerves to mounts for an extra pair of arms would be very helpful for home projects, too.

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