Significant progress in bionic reconstruction of limb functions – EMBARGOED ON February 28, 2024, 8 PM! – 2024-02-28 10:34:00

Vienna (OTS) – Bionic reconstruction, in which functional limbs are replaced with mechatronic limbs, can restore the ability to move and quality of life for accident patients. However, the high-resolution transfer of information from the brain to the machine remains a demanding challenge. Now an interdisciplinary research team led by Vlad Tereshenko and Oskar Aszmann from the University Clinic for Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery at MedUni Vienna has made further significant progress in a study. As part of their study, currently published in the journal “Science Advances”, the scientists showed that skeletal muscles can play an important role as a high-resolution interface for neuronal information from the spinal cord. With these new findings, the control of bionic prostheses can be significantly improved.

“The most remarkable discovery of our study is that after high-capacity nerve redirection, a skeletal muscle can be reinnervated by a number of axons, i.e. nerve processes, that is more than 15 times higher than its original physiological innervation,” says study leader Oskar Aszmann Detail. Physiological innvervation refers to the supply of nerve fibers to the skeletal muscles to control muscle movements. This indicates the extensive interface capabilities of skeletal muscles to unfold neural information from the spinal cord and provide it for the control of a prosthesis.

Furthermore, surgical rerouting of different nerves has redefined the molecular profile of muscle fiber types, indicating changes in muscle physiology. This implies that surgical rerouting of various nerves can supercharge the target muscle with a plethora of biological signals and orchestrate its contractile properties.

Novel human-machine interface explored
“These results establish a connection between the neuronal capacity of the donor nerve and the number of reinnervated motor axons, which is crucial for the development of novel human-machine interfaces,” says first author Vlad Tereshenko, summarizing the enormous relevance of the study for those patients. in which biological hand replantations or transplantations are not possible after severe nerve injuries.

In their study, the researchers demonstrated the remarkable ability of skeletal muscles to act as biological amplifiers for neural information from the spinal cord and to control bionic prostheses. “Thanks to advances in bioengineering and machine learning, the neural signals can now be decoded in high resolution and mapped according to motor commands to create a reliable biological interface for the high-precision control of a bionic prosthesis,” said the study authors.

World leader in bionic reconstruction
With the team led by Oskar Aszmann from the University Clinic for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, MedUni Vienna has been the world’s leading innovative force in bionic reconstruction since 2009. In the first case that caused a stir, electrician Patrick Mayrhofer received a “bionic hand” in 2011 after he got caught in the electrical circuit while working and the hand became inoperable. In order to advance the research and improvement of bionic reconstructions, the Clinical Laboratory for Bionic Limb Reconstruction was opened at MedUni Vienna in 2019.

Publikation: Science Advances
Peripheral Neural Interfaces: Skeletal Muscles are Hyper-Reinnervated According
to the Axonal Capacity of the Surgically Rewired Nerves. High-Information Transfer Peripheral Interfaces;
Vlad Tereshenko, Dominik C. Dotzauer, Martin Schmoll, Leopold Harnoncourt, Genova Carrero Rojas, Lisa Gfrerer, Kyle R. Eberlin, William G. Austen Jr., Roland Blumer, Dario Farina, Oskar C. Aszmann

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