Community Magazine April 2013

Smelling Success Scientists at Israel’s celebrated Weitzman Institute have built sensors that allow paralyzed people to operate wheelchairs and communicate using only their sense of smell. The sense of smell doesn’t depend on nerves routed through the spinal cord, and thus is usually unaffected even in cases of severe trauma resulting in paralysis. Israeli researchers Noam Sobel and Anton Plotkin realized they could measure minute changes in pressure inside patients’ noses as they smelled different scents, and translate this into an electric charge. This has allowed people who are totally paralyzed to move wheelchairs, write computer code, and even play video games. They successfully tested their groundbreaking invention in the Levinstein Rehabilitation Hospital in Ranana. One patient, who had been paralyzed for 10 years, was able to communicate for the first time since her stroke-induced paralysis, and write e-mails to her grandchildren, using this technology. The SmartHand - Dr. Yosi Shacham-Diamand of Tel Aviv University led a team of scientists that have developed a prosthetic hand which functions like a real one. Amputees can use it to write, type on a keyboard, play piano and perform other fine movements. Another amazing advantage is that the prosthesis has sensors which enable real feeling in its fingertips. The scientists are planning to create prosthetic legs of the same kind. The futuristic prosthesis, called SmartHand, is expected to change the lives of many handicapped people, whose hands or legs were amputated as a result of accidents, wars, or diseases. The revolutionary prosthesis took years to develop, and its production is said to cost tens of millions of euros. Its developers are scientists from Israel, Ireland, Italy, Iceland, and Denmark. So how exactly does this unbelievable wonder work? The prosthesis is comprised of four electric motors and 40 sensors. After the organ was amputated, the scientists attached the prosthesis, using a very thin electronic thread, to nerves located above the amputated limb. This way, the prosthesis is connected to the amputee’s brain. From this point it all becomes pretty simple. When the prosthesis owner wants to type on a keyboard, for example, his brain sends a command to an interface inside the prosthesis. From there, the translated command is transferred to the sensors in the prosthesis, and its owner can then perform fine movements like playing a musical instrument, drinking, eating, and buttoning clothes. Such activities are nearly impossible for people with a normal prosthesis. Feeling Artificial Fingers Prosthetic limbs have been around since ancient times, but Israeli scientists have recently found a way to connect a prosthetic hand to a patient’s brain, allowing not only movement, but also sensation. Dr. Yosi Shacham-Diamand of Tel Aviv University led a team of scientists that figured out a way to attach sensors from an artificial hand to a patient’s nerves. Robin af Ekenstam, a young Swedish musician who had lost his right hand to cancer, was the first to be fitted with this special artificial hand. After using it for several months, Mr. Ekenstam told Swedish TV that it felt like a real hand: “When I grab something hard, then I can feel it in the fingertips, which is strange, as I don’t have them anymore. It’s fantastic.” “Seeing” with Sound Israeli researcher Dr. Amir Amedi of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has developed a way to let blind people “see” using sound. This non- invasive invention consists of a computer mounted on glasses, connected to stereo speakers. The speakers interpret visual data into sound cues. After brief training sessions, users learn to use these sophisticated sound cues to navigate. Remarkably, magnetic resonance imaging scans show that the brain waves of people wearing this invention closely mimic those of people who are actually seeing. Dr. Amedi’s glasses enable blind people to sense the location of objects, and even to read words. This research follows Dr. Amedi’s previous breakthrough: his invention of a high-tech replacement of the traditional seeing-eye cane. Dubbed the “ yes-eye-cane, ” this cellphone-sized device uses sonar to estimate the distance of objects. The cane can tell users how big and how far away objects are, and can even tell the difference between a frowning face and a smiling one. It functions at distances traditional canes can’t, both very far away and extremely close, and can retain a charge for 12 hours. Researchers who worked on this revolutionary new aide reported being able to navigate mazes with it after a short training period. Yvette Alt Miller Ph.D lives in the Chicago area. She is author of Angels at the Table: A Practical Guide to Celebrating Shabbat . NISSAN - EYAR 5773 APRIL 2013 67