A new prosthetic lets patients 'feel' amputated limbs

Prosthetic leg
(Image credit: Agung Parameswara/Getty Images)

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.

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Julie Kliegman

Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.