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When Luke Skywalker visited his prosthetist, he received a new arm that not only restored his ability to handle a light saber but also reenabled palmar sensation. Technology is already available to include touch and temperature sensors in modern prosthetics, but such transistor-assisted sensation would have to reach the brain for the user to know, for example, that the cup of coffee she just picked up is still too hot to drink.
In this study, researchers examined how their targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR) technique affects sensory signaling. In patients with arm amputation, TMR involves moving proximal brachial nerve stumps into the patient's purposefully denervated pectoral muscles. After regrowth of the nerves to pectoral muscles, the p…