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This Artificial Skin Could Make Prosthetic Limbs Safer by Mimicking Pain

A new sensor tracks pressure inside prosthetic sockets and can flag dangerous spots before they lead to tissue damage.

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Scientists in China are working on a prosthetic “skin” that could tell people when their artificial limb is putting too much pressure on their body, letting the user experience a kind of pain or discomfort they usually would not have felt.

As ScienceAlert reported, based on a study published in the disconcertingly named journal Cyborg and Bionic Systems, researchers in China have developed a sensor that slips inside a prosthetic socket, right between the artificial limb and the person’s residual limb. It tracks where pressure occurs, how hard it is, and how long it lasts.

Some pressure is fine. But if the same spot keeps getting squeezed again and again, it can cause inflammation, ulcers, and other tissue damage. It also throws........

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