Perceiving bionic limbs like your own

© MedUni Wien/Aron Cserveny - Bionic reconstruction, i.e. the replacement of missing limbs with artificial ones, has made great progress in recent years. However, the intuitive control of these prostheses and the perception of the artificial limb as a separate part of the body continue to pose challenges for researchers. An important breakthrough has been achieved in this area as part of a study led by the Imperial College London and with the significant involvement of the MedUni Vienna. The results, recently published in "Science Robotics", show for the first time how the remaining body's natural reflexes can be used to create a reliable interface for controlling bionic limbs and make movements more natural. In order to improve the intuitive fine-tuning of muscle movements, the research teams led by Dario Farina (Imperial College London) and Oskar Aszmann (Medical University of Vienna) made use of the body's own reflex mechanisms. The movement control of artificial limbs and the feeling that they belong to one's own body depend strongly on so-called proprioceptive feedback. This refers to the perception of the position and movement of one's own body in space, which is made possible by continuous information from muscles, tendons and joints to the brain and spinal cord, even when the eyes are closed.