FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The University of Arkansas Institute for Integrative & Innovative Research was awarded a $4.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to expand a clinical trial that focuses on testing a prosthetic hand system.
“If you have an amputation, and you use a prosthetic right now, you can't feel anything,” said Dr. Ranu Jung, associate vice chancellor and executive director of the Institute for Integrative & Innovative Research.
Jung says the trial is all about restoring the sense of touch, which they hope will provide patients with improved function and capabilities.
The grant will fund more research as well as add the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center as another clinical trial site.
“The whole concept started with our servicemen returning from the Iraq War,” said Jung. “It is so fitting that now we have a partner in the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center— the best in the world—for care of our servicemen and women. So those who have lost a limb, this will now become part of the clinical trial at that site.”
Although a lot of candidates for the trial are veterans, anyone who has lost their arm or hand can participate.
The prosthetic essentially connects to a patient's nervous system.
“This technology takes information from the prosthetic hand and communicates it to the nerves inside the residual limb, wirelessly,” Jung said.
Two people currently have the technology implanted, and Jung said they work closely with them.
“They are really part and parcel of what we consider the research family, and they will be for the rest of their lives for us. Because this is a device that, if everything goes right, would be implanted for the rest of their lives,” Jung said.
Jung said their new facility is set to open in 2024 and will allow even more research to be done.
“We have undergraduates, we have graduate students, we have postdoctoral fellows, we have research scientists and engineers— all of them are working on it. You know, it's really beautiful, seeing them work together and putting their heart out.”
To learn more about the clinical trial, visit the institute's website here.
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