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.

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

Research may lead to improved treatment option for phantom limb pain

Electrical stimulation on the skin surface at the elbow can produce feeling in the hand—including rare "natural" sensations—according to a study just published in the Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development.

3 Sep 2015

Northwestern Medicine researchers evaluate unique surgical method to treat chronic amputee pain

Northwestern Medicine® researchers are leading a new multi-center clinical trial to evaluate a unique surgical method, known as targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR), to treat chronic pain that can result from limb amputation. Around a quarter of all amputees develop chronic pain in the remaining portion of their amputated limb, which can include phantom limb syndrome (pain that is perceived in the portion of the limb that is gone), and prevents many patients from using prostheses.

5 Feb 2015

Bilateral shoulder-level amputee controls APL's Modular Prosthetic Limbs

A Colorado man made history at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) this summer when he became the first bilateral shoulder-level amputee to wear and simultaneously control two of the Laboratory's Modular Prosthetic Limbs.

22 Dec 2014

Researchers identify important neural mechanism responsible for certain chronic pain disorders

Pain typically has a clear cause-but not always. When a person touches something hot or bumps into a sharp object, it's no surprise that it hurts. But for people with certain chronic pain disorders, including fibromyalgia and phantom limb pain, a gentle caress can result in agony.

6 Dec 2014

Effective treatment for phantom limb pain continues to be elusive

Army doctors in the First World War were helpless to stop soldiers who lost limbs from suffering in pain, according to researchers.

10 Nov 2014

Researchers determine safety and effectiveness of neurostimulation to treat chronic pain

Chronic pain, which persists despite the fact that an injury has healed, can last for many months or years and may affect up to 15 percent of the adult population at any point in time.

13 Aug 2014

Occupational therapist receives $1M grant to develop virtual world programs that help amputees improve skills

Some people use alternate virtual world programs like Second Life- to escape reality, but one researcher is examining whether these same virtual worlds that are used to stimulate the imagination could help amputees develop the skills needed to navigate the real world.

11 Nov 2013

Study: Messages coming from muscle receptors are enough to change the internal body representation

People can be easily tricked into believing an artificial finger is their own, shows a study published today [23 September] in The Journal of Physiology.

23 Sep 2013