The implant restored touch in the hand of a paralysed man, who described the sensations as similar to natural touch, according to a new study. The brain chip also helped him sense touch using a robotic hand, paving the way to improving artificial touch in neuroprosthetic limbs. Brain chips electrically stimulate nerves to recreate the perception of touch, a technique known as intracortical microstimulation. The tool has already shown promise in animal studies, but how life-like the artificial sensations actually feel is still being researched. Touch is an essential function of the hand yet, with brain-computer interfaces to control prosthetic limbs, the sense of touch has largely been absent.
