Artificial Skin Could Help Amputees Feel What They Are Touching

Researchers have developed a thin artificial skin that they hope could be used to help amputees feel what they're touching with prosthetic hands or limbs.

It's an unusual combination of a stretchy, rubber-based plastic and carbon nanotubes, with electrodes applied using an inkjet printer. It translates the pressure of a touch into a digital signal, the researchers report in the journal Science.

"It's skinlike in its functions," said Zhenan Bao, a chemical engineering professor at Stanford University who led the study team.

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