title: Bionic limbs: clinical reality and academic promises.
abstract: Three recent articles in Science Translational Medicine (Tan et al. and Ortiz-Catalan et al., this issue; Raspopovic et al., 5 Feb 2014 issue, 222ra19) present neuroprosthetic systems in which sensory information is delivered through direct nerve stimulation while controlling an action of the prosthesis--in all three cases, arm and hand movement. We discuss such sensory-motor integration and other key issues in prosthetic reconstruction, with an emphasis on the gap existing between clinically available systems and more advanced, custom-designed academic systems. In the near future, osseointegration, implanted muscle, and nerve electrodes for decoding and stimulation may be components of prosthetic systems for clinical use, available to a large patient population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurorehabilitation Engineering, Bernstein Focus Neurotechnology Göttingen, Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, University Medical Center Göttingen, Georg-August University, D-37075 Göttingen, Germany. dario.farina@bccn.uni-goettingen.de.
authors.forename: Dario
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Farina
authors.affiliation: CD Laboratory for Restoration of Extremity Function, Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Oskar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Aszmann
mesh_terms: D001186:Artificial Limbs; D003199:Computer Systems; D056228:Feedback, Sensory / Q000502:physiology*; D006225:Hand / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016348:Osseointegration; D055698:Touch Perception