The advancement in prosthetics has taken another giant step forward as it has emerged that a man who had lost his hand in an accident has been able to experience the sensation of touch again by using the first prosthetic hand that allows the wearer to feel what it touches.

The prosthetic had operates by being  able to detect the shape and solidity of whatever it touches and  uses implants connected to nerves in  the man’s upper arm that transmits electrical signals from sensors attached to the fingers to his brain.

The recipient of the arm is 36 year old Dennis Aabo Sorensen from Denmark. Mr. Sorensen underwent a four week trial using the arm and was able to distinguish between hard, soft, round and square objects – while blindfolded and wearing earplugs.

It is hoped that that the technology could be a step towards creating prostheses that allow the wearers to sense textures and temperature. The new technology will now mean amputees can hold objects without having to watch their hands to detect the tightness of their grip.

Speaking about the new technology Mr. Sorenson said “The sensory feedback was incredible. You can feel round things and hard things and soft things. Suddenly when I was doing the movements I could feel actually what I was doing, instead of looking at what I was doing.”