For amputees, the sensation of a ‘phantom limb pain’ can be a terrible or disorienting experience -- feeling a hand, arm or leg that isn’t there anymore. But researchers at Johns Hopkins University have recognized that these sensations are a clue - they show that the nervous system is still looking for input from the missing limb. Now researchers have designed a way to provide that missing input with electronic skin.

Prosthetics should do more than replicate the mere mechanics of our limbs, they should connect us to the rest of the world, and they should make users feel complete. By studying how our nervous system transmits sensations throughout our bodies, researchers can mimic those signals from new input devices.

Until now, prosthetics have only been able to replace the mechanical functions of our limbs, but the e-dermis holds the promise of restoring the sense of touch, helping amputees finally feel whole again.

In our final episode of Superhuman Season 5, meet Luke Osborn, the researcher leading the study of electric skin for prosthetics and see how he is giving back the thing that connects us all.

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