ELIF: How are amputees able to control and move prosthetic limbs right out of the box?

Question

ELIF: How are amputees able to control and move prosthetic limbs right out of the box?

In: Technology

Answer 1

Actions to move your hand originate in the brain and travel through the nervous system to muscles which contract making the movement.

When a limb is amputated the muscles making the movements may be gone but the nerves transporting the message are still present up to the point of the amputation.

Electrodes are placed at these points which detect the small electrical changes in the nerves. The prosthetic is then calibrated to complete certain movements based on electrical signals received.

So you think “rotate wrist”, signal travels from your brain, to your spine, down your arm, into the electrode, into the computer, which tells the wrist to rotate.