Phantom Limb News and Research

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

Amputees regain temperature sensation with new prosthetic technology

Sensory feedback is important for amputees to be able to explore and interact with their environment. Now, researchers have developed a device that allows amputees to sense and respond to temperature by delivering thermal information from the prosthesis' fingertip to the amputee's residual limb.

9 Feb 2024

Early targeted muscle reinnervation cuts chronic pain after amputation

Performed early – at the time of amputation – a procedure called targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR) can reduce pain scores and prevent complications related to abnormal nerve regrowth, suggests a study in the January issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.

4 Jan 2024

Spinal cord treatment offers relief and sensation to lower limb amputees

Researchers from the USA used commercially available electrodes for closed-loop spinal cord stimulation in three individuals with transtibial amputation.

18 Dec 2023

Spinal cord stimulation restores sensation and eases phantom pain in amputees

Spinal cord stimulation can elicit sensation in the missing foot and alleviate phantom limb pain in people with lower limb amputations, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine rehabilitation scientists report today.

14 Dec 2023

Image-guided procedure may alleviate parosmia symptoms in long COVID patients

Using an image-guided minimally invasive procedure, researchers may be able to restore the sense of smell in patients who have suffered with long-COVID, according to research being presented next week at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.

20 Nov 2023

Researchers identify brain signatures for chronic pain in a small group of individuals

For the first time, researchers have recorded pain-related data from inside the brain of individuals with chronic pain disorders caused by stroke or amputation (phantom limb pain).

22 May 2023

Temperature sensation in the phantom hand provides a more realistic touch to amputees

An unexpected discovery about temperature feedback has led to new bionic technology that allows amputees to sense the temperature of objects – both hot and cold – directly in the phantom hand.

18 May 2023

The therapeutic effects and safety of psychedelics

Psychedelics are reported to have rapid-onset and long-lasting therapeutic benefits after a single or few doses.

14 Dec 2022

Partially paralyzed man maneuvers a pair of robotic prostheses to feed himself

Two robotic arms – a fork in one hand, a knife in the other – flank a seated man, who sits in front of a table, with a piece of cake on a plate.

28 Jun 2022

Magnetic beads could offer much more precise control of prosthetic limbs

For people with amputation who have prosthetic limbs, one of the greatest challenges is controlling the prosthesis so that it moves the same way a natural limb would. Most prosthetic limbs are controlled using electromyography, a way of recording electrical activity from the muscles, but this approach provides only limited control of the prosthesis.

19 Aug 2021

$1.3 million grant funds clinical trial to test psilocybin for treating patients with phantom limb pain

The Psychedelics and Health Research Initiative at UC San Diego has received a $1.3 million grant from the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation to fund a clinical trial investigating the therapeutic potential of psilocybin in treating phantom limb pain.

17 Feb 2021

New type of surgery can help amputees better control their residual muscles

MIT researchers have invented a new type of amputation surgery that can help amputees to better control their residual muscles and sense where their "phantom limb" is in space.

15 Feb 2021

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