Page 25 - Winter 2025

Industry News Industry News

INTRODUCING THE

BRAIN-CONTROLLED

BIONIC HAND

3D-PRINTING

BREAKTHROUGH USING

Researchers at the Chalmers University of the brain allowing the sensation to be felt as if it were
Technology and the US-based Cortical Bionics really in the hand. Participants could thus complete ACOUSTIC HOLOGRAMS
Research Group have discovered a unique method complex tasks with the bionic arm, such as picking up
for encoding natural touch sensations of the an object and moving it from one location to another.
hand via specific microstimulation patterns in
Giacomo Valle, Lead Author and Assistant Professor
implantable electrodes in the brain, representing
at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden,
a breakthrough in technology for those with spinal
explains:
cord injuries.
“ In this work for the first time the research went
The new technology potentially allows for the control
beyond anything that has been done before in the A new revolutionary approach to 3D-printing structure by controlling the feed rate if we
of a bionic arm by the brain, as well as enabling
field of brain-computer interfaces - we conveyed that utilises acoustic holograms has been optimise the parameters to get the required
the feeling of tactile edges, shapes, curvatures and
tactile sensations related to orientation, curvature, developed by Concordia University. structures.
movements in a way that has hitherto not been
motion and 3D shapes for a participant using a
possible. brain-controlled bionic limb. We are in another The technique, known as holographic direct You can imagine the possibilities. We can print
sound printing, harnesses microscopic bubbles opaque objects, behind a wall, inside a tube or
level of artificial touch now. We think this richness
For the research two participants were fitted with to create intense heat and pressure for short inside the body. The technique that we already
is crucial for achieving the level of dexterity,
chronic brain implants in the sensory and motor use and the devices that we use have already
manipulation, and a highly dimensional tactile periods of time. This hardens resin into intricate
regions of the brain that represent the arm and hand. been approved for medical applications”.
experience typical of the human hand. patterns, which then allows for the formation
The team recorded and decoded all of the different
of complex 3D structures within acoustic Reference: Miles, S., ‘Advanced holographic 3D-printing with Acoustic
patterns of electrical activity that occurred in the We found a way to type these ‘tactile messages’ Technology’, Electronic Specifier, 11th. November
holograms with rapid polymerisation. Entire
brain related to motor intention of the arm and hand. via microstimulation using the tiny electrodes in
structures can be built simultaneously with this
This was possible because the electrical activity the brain and we found a unique way to encode
method rather than having to build objects voxel
was still present in the brain, but the paralysis was complex sensations. This allowed for more vivid by voxel.
preventing it from reaching the hand. The resulting sensory feedback and experience while using a
unique method for decoding and deciphering brain bionic hand”. In order to maintain image fidelity, the acoustic
signals allowed the person to directly control a bionic Reference: West, P., ‘Advanced artificial Touch for Brain-controlled hologram is fixed within the printing material,
arm and hand from the brain. Bionic Hand’, Electronic Specifier, 17th. January while a robotic arm moves the platform
according to a pre-programmed algorithm.
A series of complex experiments involving rich tactile
Multiple images can be stored in a single
sensations was conducted, with the researchers
hologram.
typing in specific stimulations to the brain via the
implants. Project leader Professor Muthukumeran
Packirisami, states:
With the aid of the brain computer interface, the
researchers were able to decode the intention of “ We can also change the image while the
motion from the brain so as to control a bionic arm operation is under way. We can change shapes,
combine multiple motions, and alter materials
equipped with sensors. When an object comes into
being printed. We can make a complicated
contact with the sensors, the stimulation is sent to
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