Phantom Limb News and Research

RSS

Phantom Limb is the sensation of pain or other unpleasant feelings in the place of a missing (phantom) limb.

Sensory stimulation improves perception of phantom limbs, leads to better muscle movement

A significant amount of research and development has gone into creating sophisticated prosthetic limbs and learning how to effectively control them.

8 Dec 2020

Implanted nerve stimulation devices provide sustained pain relief in 60 days

Patients who have chosen to treat chronic pain with implanted peripheral nerve stimulation no longer need to be tethered permanently to the device.

6 Nov 2019

Research reveals how mirror therapy relieves phantom limb pain

Easing phantom limb pain can be as simple as looking in the mirror. Scientists who have mapped how mirror therapy changes the brain may now be able to predict just how much treatment will ease a particular patient’s pain.

19 Jul 2019

Researchers identify origin of chronic pain in humans

A new study by researchers at The University of Texas at Dallas, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, UT Health Science Center at Houston and Baylor College of Medicine has produced evidence of the source of chronic pain in humans, revealing several new targets for pain treatment.

19 Mar 2019

New study explains why some patients report phantom sensations after limb amputation

After a limb amputation, brain areas responsible for movement and sensation alter their functional communication. This is the conclusion of a new study published today in Scientific Reports.

22 Feb 2019

Brain stores detailed information of missing hand decades after amputation, finds study

Researchers have found that the brain stores detailed information of a missing hand decades after amputation, regardless of whether amputees still experience phantom hand sensations.

5 Feb 2019

UC San Diego Health offers new DRG stimulation device for phantom limb pain

In May 2000, Raul Silva was involved in a motorcycle accident in Baja California, Mexico, badly breaking his left femur, or thighbone. He underwent emergency surgery in Mexicali and, at first, everything seemed fine. Then an infection set in, worsened, and Silva eventually made his way to San Diego, where his left leg was amputated.

18 Dec 2018

Physician-scientists treat first patient in the U.S. with focused ultrasound for neuropathic leg pain

University of Maryland physician-scientists have treated the first patient in the United States with MRI-guided focused ultrasound for neuropathic leg pain as part of a pilot clinical trial.

30 Oct 2018

Nerve-on-a-chip platform could help improve neuroprosthetic designs

Neuroprosthetics - implants containing multi-contact electrodes that can substitute certain nerve functionalities - have the potential to work wonders.

23 Oct 2018

Chalmers University professor develops new theory for origin of 'phantom limb pain'

Dr Max Ortiz Catalan of Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, has developed a new theory for the origin of the mysterious condition, 'phantom limb pain'. Published in the journal Frontiers in Neurology, his hypothesis builds upon his previous work on a revolutionary treatment for the condition, that uses machine learning and augmented reality.

6 Sep 2018

Scientists trick the brain to embody the prosthetic limb

The famous idiom "seeing is believing" is not enough to help amputees with the use of their prosthetic limb. Many amputees opt out of prolonged use of their prosthetic limb because their missing limb simply does not fit their prosthesis.

14 Aug 2018

Researchers create electronic skin that brings back real sense of touch to prosthetic limbs

Amputees often experience the sensation of a "phantom limb"--a feeling that a missing body part is still there.

21 Jun 2018

Pitt researchers win NIH BRAIN award to enhance sensory feedback of prosthetic devices

Our tactile senses keep us aware of our environment and are essential for the execution of natural movement. Though there have been many advances in modern prosthetic devices, the loss of sensory feedback remains an issue, and many amputees struggle with everyday movement.

18 Dec 2017

EPFL scientists show how TMSR affects upper-limb maps in the brains of patients with amputations

Targeted motor and sensory reinnervation (TMSR) is a surgical procedure on patients with amputations that reroutes residual limb nerves towards intact muscles and skin in order to fit them with a limb prosthesis allowing unprecedented control.

27 Oct 2017

Tricks and illusions help unveil how the brain processes multiple sensory inputs

Tricks and illusions, once the domain of magicians, are helping scientists unveil how the brain works.

1 Aug 2017

Virtual reality may help relieve phantom limb pain

In a recent study, patients experienced reduced phantom limb pain after playing an augmented reality car racing game that required them to move the missing limb.

2 Dec 2016

Brain-machine interface training may be promising approach for treating phantom limb pain

Phantom limb pain is the pain experienced following loss of a limb, either from injury or amputation.

15 Nov 2016

Researchers identify underlying cause and potential treatment for phantom limb pain in amputees

Researchers have discovered that a 'reorganisation' of the wiring of the brain is the underlying cause of phantom limb pain, which occurs in the vast majority of individuals who have had limbs amputated, and a potential method of treating it which uses artificial intelligence techniques.

27 Oct 2016

Brain-stimulation method provides significant reductions in phantom limb pain

As many as 25,000 people a year worldwide lose limbs from land mine blasts, and a new study, published in The Journal of Pain, shows that transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) administered to the scalp can stimulate the brain and provide significant reductions in phantom limb pain.

10 Aug 2016

Study examines use of cryoablation to reduce phantom limb pain

J. David Prologo, MD, delivered new findings from an Emory Interventional Radiology and Image Guided Medicine study at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 2016 Annual Scientific Meeting. The study examines the use of cryoablation, or extreme cold, to reduce phantom limb pain (PLP) - a condition that causes individuals to perceive chronic pain in amputated limbs. Emory's study shows interventional radiologists who applied cold blasts to patients suffering from PLP significantly reduced their level of pain.

15 Apr 2016