Intuitive bionic hand developed that can ‘see’ its surroundings

UK researchers have developed a camera-equipped bionic hand that can visualise and naturalistically interact with its surroundings.

Created by Newcastle University with funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the hand is fitted with a camera that instantaneously takes a picture of the object in front of it, assesses its shape and size, and triggers the necessary movement to interact with it.

This bypasses the usual process that requires the user to see the object, physically stimulate the muscles in the arm and trigger a movement in the prosthetic limb, allowing patients to interact with their surroundings more naturalistically.

The hand was programmed with four different types of grasping movements, before being taught to group objects by size, shape and orientation, according to the type of grasp that would be needed to pick them up.

Using a low-cost camera, it can see an object, select the appropriate grasp and send a signal to the hand within milliseconds – ten times faster than any other limb currently on the market.

Study co-author Dr Kianoush Nazarpour, a senior lecturer in biomedical engineering at Newcastle University, said: "It's a stepping stone towards our ultimate goal. But importantly, it's cheap and it can be implemented soon because it doesn't require new prosthetics – we can just adapt the ones we have."

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