Thanks to an experimental prosthetic, a Danish man makes history by feeling the shape and consistency of objects held in his artificial hand.

Bionic Hand

Amputees often have the sensation that their missing appendages are still there, a phenomenon known as a phantom limb.

For Dennis Aabo Sørensen, the sensations he felt recently weren’t phantom. They were real.

The 36-year-old Danish man recently became the first amputee in the world to experience sensation in real-time thanks to an experimental prosthetic wired to his nerves.

‘The sensory feedback was incredible,” he said. ‘I could feel things that I hadn’t been able to feel in over nine years.”

No Sensations for Nearly a Decade

Sørensen lost his left hand during an accident nine years ago. After a firework exploded in his hand, he was rushed to the hospital where his hand and forearm were amputated.

Since then, he’s been wearing a typical commercial prosthetic hand. It detects movement in his stump, which allows him open, close, and hold onto objects. However, he has to watch his every move to make sure that he doesn’t crush what he’s holding, whether it’s food or his child’s hand.

‘It works like a brake on a motorbike,” Sorensen said. ‘When you squeeze the brake, […]