Like the real one … Researchers in Australia are developing artificial skin that reacts to pain

Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) – Researchers from RMIT University in Australia have developed artificial skin that reacts to pain stimuli just like real skin.

Madhu Bhaskaran, professor of engineering at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia and lead researcher on the project, says the artificial leather is made of silicone rubber, has a texture that mimics real leather and is “similar to leather in its mechanical properties”.

It could lead to pioneering innovations in the field of prosthetics and robotics.

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And just like real leather, the synthetic version is designed to react when pressure, heat or cold exceeds the pain threshold and its outer layers are made up of electronic circuits with sensors that respond to painful stimuli.

Bhaskaran explains that human skin is designed to send electrical signals to the central nervous system, explaining that the electronic circuits in the synthetic version work in a similar way and at the same speed.

When we touch something that burns, our skin’s pain receptors send an electrical signal through the nerves to the brain. The brain sends its own electrical signal to initiate a response, such as a reaction to move the affected body limb away from the heat source.

In much the same way, when a sensor in the artificial skin detects a pain stimulus, it sends an electrical signal to mimic parts of the brain in the skeleton, Bhaskaran said. These parts can be programmed to trigger the action of the movement.

Bhaskaran points out that the important thing here is the sore spot, explaining that although we constantly feel stimulation, we only react to a certain point, “like touching something very hot”.

Explain that the brain and skin compare stimuli and determine which ones are dangerous. And when they develop artificial skin, scientists set those limits for the electronics that simulate the brain.

The result is synthetic leather that can differentiate the gentle touch of a pin or a painful stab.

Smart prosthetics

Artificial leather can help develop smart implants covered with functional skin that reacts to pain like a human limb, allowing the wearer to know if they are touching something that could damage them.

“We’ve come a long way with prosthetics, but the focus has been mainly on the locomotor procedures the prosthesis can perform,” says Bhaskaran.

Because traditional implants don’t contain skin, they don’t sense external dangers, so having a layer that mimics skin will make them more realistic, Bhaskaran said.

Bhaskaran believes that artificial skin has the potential to be used in skin grafts. It can also be used to make smart surgical gloves, to provide the feeling usually lost when wearing protective gloves.

As for the applications that can be expected, they are robots, as pain-sensing artificial skin not only provides realistic functions, but also provides a potential humanoid robot with the ability to perceive pain, which is an interesting step not only. technologically, but also philosophically. .