[HN Gopher] Agonist-Antagonist Myoneural Interface
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       Agonist-Antagonist Myoneural Interface
        
       Author : kaycebasques
       Score  : 25 points
       Date   : 2026-01-09 05:44 UTC (17 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.media.mit.edu)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.media.mit.edu)
        
       | w10-1 wrote:
       | This is a very significant result for a high-traffic real
       | situations -- work to be proud of.
       | 
       | To summarize:
       | 
       | When a prosthetic lower leg was attached, they connected
       | antagonist muscles to the leg, with sensors from those muscles in
       | a control loop to the leg (ankle), mimicking how proprioception
       | works. (The sensors are the new interface technology.)
       | 
       | The patient knew and could move the position of the foot when he
       | couldn't see it. He walked up stairs with the usual natural
       | coordinated movements. And he felt like the leg was part of him.
       | 
       | It's one thing to (cortically) plan and execute and track
       | prosthetics visually; it's another for the cerebellum to
       | autonomously monitor and control them, and not to feel cut off.
       | 
       | This seems workable as a standard of care for arms and hands as
       | well. And in this case, it was installed years after the leg was
       | lost, so it works for retrofits (granting this is N=1 young
       | patient in otherwise excellent condition).
        
       | kaycebasques wrote:
       | I stumbled on this work while researching cyborgs. There's quite
       | a bit of jargon on this official page. The main idea (as I
       | understand it) is that previously, when you got an amputation
       | above the elbow (for example) the bicep and tricep muscles became
       | dead ends. They would just attach the ends of the muscles
       | wherever feasible. Apparently the act of one muscle like the
       | bicep contracting (agonist) while another related one like the
       | tricep extends (antagonist) is a really important feedback loop
       | in our brains. AAMI essentially restores this feedback loop,
       | making the prosthetic feel like part of the body. The lead
       | researcher is apparently himself a double amputee.
       | 
       | Osseointegration was another example of interesting real-life
       | cyborg technology that I stumbled upon.
        
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       (page generated 2026-01-09 23:00 UTC)