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GIF : North Carolina State University

Neural testing may one day help patients control their prosthetic limbs simply by thinking. Now scientists observe that with the help of physiotherapy, patients can achieve more with neural control than scientists previously believed.

A new study carried out at North Carolina State University, came to confirm the above. This study involved a 57-year-old volunteer who lost his leg at the point between his knee and ankle. Initially, a neurally controlled prosthetic limb was placed on him and with the help of a physiotherapist he was trained in movements quite demanding for conventional prosthetic limbs. The robotic limb received signals from 2 remaining muscles located in the tibia that are responsible for the movement of the ankle. He did 5 sessions with the physiotherapist, about 2 hours each, over a period of two and a half weeks. The physiotherapist helped to provide feedback on the function of the member and trained him initially in movements that were only for the member and then in movement and synchronization for movements that concern the whole body.

At the end of the sessions, the volunteer could successfully complete what had been assigned to him in contrast to previously when he had difficulty. This procedure involved, the patient getting up from the chair without any help or deep seat to catch something from the ground without using other parts of his body.

What surprised the researchers was the stability that had been achieved through the training of the volunteer, thus "opening up" the way for many people who have lost their lower limbs to do more demanding activities, bringing them one step closer to their "able-bodied" lives.