Most sensitive bionic skin

While artificial skin has been around for a while, it had never been able to perform sensory functions that our own integument so ably does. That all changed when a team of researchers from a multitude of institutions in Seoul, South Korea and Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, made an important breakthrough in the field of synthetic bionic skin. The prosthetic skin takes the form of thin, rubbery sheets with a lattice of electronic sensors that can measure three sensory elements – temperature, pressure and moisture. Previous attempts at this type of skin resulted in a non-stretchable, thick-film approach. The new skin can be stretched to 150% of its reset dimensions, which means it can be formed over prosthetic limbs or as a replacement cover for damaged areas of skin scar tissue. The skin may even be adapted in terms of sensitivity – thus for fingers the density of sensor weave will be higher than in areas such as the wrist, where maximum flexibility but less sense-resolution is provided by nature. The sensors themselves generate small amounts of electrical current when activated, which can be used to stimulate nerves in the body.

While medical trials on damaged human skin is still to commence, the ability to provide prosthetic limb sense via the new skin is already in development.