Stroke Patients May Soon Be Able To Feel Things Again Through A New Touchpad

Stroke survivors could soon get a second chance to feel the world at their fingertips again with a new device developed by the University of Hertfordshire.

The portable touchpad is designed to send tiny vibrations as “random noise” through a person’s fingers, transmitting signals to brain cells to trigger the sense of touch in the affected limbs.

“Basically, sensory and motor is connected, and because of that improvement in sensory, from my perspective, bound to have some improvements in movement,” said neuroscientist and biomedical engineer Dr. Amit Pujari who presented the innovation’s early findings at the British Science Festival.

The vibrations are described to be mild and will go undetected by people with a normal sense of touch. 

Strokes can cause paralysis, vision, and speech loss. A stroke episode can leave patients frustrated and helpless as they will be unable to perform basic everyday tasks—such as feeding and dressing—on their own again.

15 million people experience strokes annually, based on information from World Health Organization. Globally, one person suffers from it every five minutes, with almost half the cases losing sensation in the upper limbs.

There is currently no easy fix to restore that sensation, and such a solution could help survivors regain some independence. 

According to E&T, a study involving 40 patients was performed to test the device’s efficacy. They were asked to place their hands on the device for 10 minutes. Subsequently, there was a 20% to 40% improvement in their sense of touch, Pujari stated.

Their mental well-being was also found to have been boosted by the improvement in their senses.

As per Interesting Engineering, the researchers are working to shrink the device to the size of a small box that costs “no more than a few hundred pounds” and would be made accessible via general practitioners and patients’ residences.

The invention is yet to be peer-reviewed, but early findings are “encouraging” and will soon be published in academic journals, along with plans for more future trials.

[via Tech Times and E&T, Photo 16301469 © Nyul | Dreamstime.com]