Shape-memory wire used to create innovative new artificial hand

A team of engineers from Saarland University have created a new type of artificial hand with muscles made from shape-memory wire, which could offer numerous benefits.

The new prosthetic uses multiple strands of shape-memory wire to connect the finger joints and act as flexor muscles. In order to facilitate rapid movements, the structure of natural human muscle fibres was replicated by grouping fine wires into bundles.

As a result, the device is flexible, lightweight and capable of tensing and flexing, while the sensory properties of the material allow the artificial hand to perform extremely precise movements.

The team now wishes to continue developing the prototype and improve its function, a process that will involve modelling hand movement patterns and exploiting the sensor properties of the wire.

Filomena Simone, an engineer who is working on the prototype of the artificial hand, said: "A bundle of very fine wires can undergo rapid contractions and extensions equivalent to those observed in human muscles. As a result, we are able to achieve fast and smooth finger movements."

The prototype was recently showcased at Hannover Messe, the world's largest industrial fair, as a means of attracting potential development partners.