New Amputation surgery gives better control of residual muscles

Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have discovered a new type of amputation surgery that allows amputees to have improved control of their residual muscles and a better sense of where their ‘phantom limb’ is.

Researchers believe this could translate to better control of prosthetic limbs and a reduction
in limb pain. In most amputations, the muscles that control joints such as elbows and ankles are severed.

The MIT team has found that reconnecting these muscle pairs, allowing them to retain their normal pushpull relationship, offers amputees much better sensory feedback.

“Both our study and previous studies show that the better patients can dynamically move their muscles, the more control they’re going to have,” said Shriya Srinivasan, lead author of the
study. “The better a person can actuate muscles that move their phantom ankle, for example,
the better they’re actually able to use their prostheses.”

Read the full article here: https://news.mit.edu/2021/surgery-control-prosthetic-limbs-0215