In normal persons, the muscles involved in limb movement are in pairs, and they stretch and contract alternatively. After conventional amputation surgery, the muscles have restricted movements, and the sensory messages to the brain are cut off. This makes it difficult for amputees to feel or sense the prosthetic limb movement. MIT researchers have developed a new surgical technique known as the agonist-antagonist myoneural interface (AMI) . This technique can provide better control of amputated limb muscles.
The surgery can reconnect the muscle pairs from the amputated body parts. This can retain the normal push-pull relationship, thereby providing better sensory feedback. Since the preclinical studies, about 25 people have undergone AMI surgeries. The new PNAS study assessed the precision of muscle movements in the ankle and subtalar joints of 15 patients who had undergone AMI below…
