Restoring a Lost Sense of Touch

Overheard at National Geographic

National Geographic

Science, Society & Culture

4.5 • 10.1K Ratings

🗓️ 31 May 2022

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When Brandon Prestwood’s left hand was caught in an industrial conveyor belt 10 years ago, he lost his hand and forearm. Scientists are unraveling the science of touch by trying to tap into the human nervous system and re-create the sensation for people like Prestwood. After an experimental surgery, Prestwood’s prosthetic arm was upgraded with a rudimentary sense of touch—a major development in technology that could bring us all a little closer together. For more information on this episode, visit nationalgeographic.com/overheard. Want More? To learn more about this story and writer Cynthia Gorney’s other reporting on the science of touch, take a look at her feature article. The robotic arm isn't the only nascent technology that seems like it's right out of Star Wars. Our science desk has compiled a list of examples of real research inspired by the franchise. Also Explore More information about Dustin Tyler’s research can be found through his Case Western Reserve University website and his organization, the Human Fusions Institute. If you like what you hear and want to support more content like this, please consider a National Geographic subscription. Go to natgeo.com/exploremore to subscribe today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	As a kid growing up in the late 70s, science fiction was all about bionic body parts.
0:12.6	There was the 6 million dollar man with the whole, you can rebuild him better than he
0:16.6	was before.
0:18.5	And then, most famously, in a galaxy far far away, there was Luke Skywalker, who in the
0:24.5	climactic scene of the Empire Strikes Back, loses his right hand in a lightsaber fight
0:29.4	with Darth Vader.
0:32.3	The next time we see Luke, he's testing out his new bionic hand.
0:36.4	A robot pricks each finger one at a time, showing that it can move and feel just like the
0:42.5	original.
0:43.5	Good as new.
0:45.0	Okay, so real science has not produced in Millennium Falcon and we still can't jump
0:49.6	to hyperspace, but the bionic arm is slowly moving from science fiction to just regular
0:55.6	science.
0:56.6	These are the sounds of an experimental prosthesis at the Cleveland VA Medical Center.
1:10.8	A mechanic who lost his hand in an accident 10 years ago sits beside a researcher to test
1:16.6	the prosthesis.
1:21.6	Hiring travels from the mechanical arm through the skin of his shoulder and attaches directly
1:27.3	to his nerves.
1:30.4	The researcher gently presses each plastic finger and he can feel it.
1:35.4	Okay, so let's see if it's just feeling your thumb here.
1:40.4	Yes, I think.
1:41.4	Tell me if it's lighter or it's a little bit.
	...

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