A new prosthetic lets patients 'feel' amputated limbs

Austrian researchers debuted what's being called the world's first "feeling" prosthetic leg Monday, AFP reports. It simulates what a real limb feels like and eliminates the phantom pain that commonly plagues amputees.

University of Linz professor Hubert Egger developed the leg, which Austrian amputee patient Wolfgang Rangger has been testing for six months. Surgeons rewired his remaining nerve endings so they could communicate with the leg, which is equipped with sensors on its sole and stimulators near his stump.

"It feels like I have a foot again," Rangger, who runs, cycles, and climbs, told AFP. "I no longer slip on ice and I can tell whether I walk on gravel, concrete, grass or sand. I can even feel small stones."

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