Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, BETHESDA, MD  –   A Soldier at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center is taking part in a clinical trial to test a “neural-enabled” prosthetic arm, a next-generation device designed to restore the sensation of touch through advanced nerve stimulation technology.  

The concept for this advanced prosthetic came from Drs. Ranu Jung and James Abbas of the University of Arkansas, both biomedical engineers focused on improving life for people with disabilities.     “We created this prosthetic system to allow someone who uses a motorized prosthesis to feel what they are touching,” said Abbas. “When someone has a standard motorized prothesis, when the hand closes and touches something — they don’t feel it.”  

The Walter Reed “Participant,” a Soldier who had an amputation below the elbow, typically uses a standard prosthetic with no sensation. The Participant volunteered to test this neural-enabled prosthetic hand and is amazed by the results.   “It’s different from my usual [prosthetic] arm. The new one gives me a ‘feeling sensation’ when I grab an object,” the Participant said. “I don’t need to look at an object when I pick it up, because I know it’s there. If I reach over to grab a pillow, the electrodes in the fingertips of the hand make it so that I have the sensation of holding something.”      

Abbas explained what inspired the research. “I worked for many years to activate muscles that are paralyzed,” he said. “The Department of Defense in the early 2000s was interested in exploring new technologies in response to those who lost limbs [in combat]. The current technology we have is limited, so there was a push in an ongoing effort for a prosthetic with more capabilities.”    “Our group and others had been doing research using electrical stimulation of nerves, and Dr. Jung and I realized that we could create a system that a person could take home for everyday use,” Abbas added. “We developed the system, got the funding and approval from the FDA [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] for this investigational device and started looking for volunteers to become part of the study.

We wanted to expand, so we contacted Dr. Paul Pasquina, chief of the Department of Rehabilitation at Walter Reed, and asked if he would be interested in [Walter Reed] becoming a second site for the project.”   To enable sensation, the Participant underwent a surgical procedure in which electrodes were implanted in his upper arm nerves. On the sensory prosthetic itself, sensors in the fingertips connect to a box embedded in the forearm of the prosthesis, an implant-hand interface, that communicates with the implanted neurostimulator.  

When the Soldier grabs an object, the system sends neural signals from the prosthetic to the brain, recreating the feeling of touch.   

The Participant has now tested the sensory arm for more than a year and says it feels closer to a natural limb than any other prosthetic used before. “I am thankful I was selected for this study. The Walter Reed team is the best team in the world,” said the Participant. “Walter Reed has the greatest providers and researchers; it is an awesome experience. I’ve been very blessed to be in this study with a world-renowned doctor, Dr. Benjamin Potter.”  

The study remains ongoing and will soon move into a larger clinical trial.

Abbas emphasized Walter Reed’s essential role in advancing the work.   “As we move forward to carry it into the real world as a product, the partnership with Walter Reed has been very helpful”, he said. “The team at Walter Reed has prepared us to go beyond this first-in-human study to do a larger trial and refine it. We have learned so much from them about how to do that; they are helping us learn how to best send technology into the real world.”  

Abbas added that the Soldier at Walter Reed is more than a participant, he’s a partner in progress. “He wants to help us and others to learn and develop new technology for other people with an amputation.”  

Though the neural-enabled sensory prosthesis is not available on the commercial market, thanks to clinical trial participants like this brave Soldier at Walter Reed, there is now hope of it being publicly released more than ever before.  

Do you want to learn more about how prosthetics can help you or a loved one? Please talk to your provider and follow us at https://walterreed.tricare.mil/News-Gallery/Articles.