Researchers at Linz University in Austria has developed the world’s first artificial leg capable of simulating some of the “feeling” in a normal leg. Professor Hubert Egger led a live demonstration during a Vienna press conference, detailing how the Austrian researchers have fitted a human being with a leg prosthesis that sends feelings to its wearer.
Here’s how it works: Doctors surgically move the nerve endings close to the surface to receive impulses from the stimulators in the prosthesis. The amputee’s stump is fitted into a shaft that contains “stimulators” electronically attached to six sensors in the foot of the device. The stimulators then  receive sensations from the prosthetic leg. The wearer is able to feel the movement of the leg being picked up and placed down again.

Nerve endings that inform the brain of movement are still present in the leg of an amputee, but are no longer being stimulated. Professor Egger says, “In a healthy foot, skin receptors carry out this function but they are obviously missing here. However, the information conductors — the nerves — are still present, they’re just not being stimulated.”
Austrian amputee Wolfgang Rangger, who participated in the Vienna press conference, said “It’s like a second lease of life, like being reborn.” Rangger, a former teacher, lost his right leg after suffering a blood clot eight years ago. He has spent the last six months testing the new prosthesis. “It feels like I have a foot again. I no longer slip on ice and I can tell whether I walk on gravel, concrete, grass or sand. I can even feel small stones,” he said.
This is a step toward stopping the phantom pain and discomfort that many amputees feel. Frequently, after losing a limb, people report feelings of pain, itching, or other unpleasant sensations of the arm or leg that is no longer there. In Mr. Rangger’s case, in the years since the amputation, he has felt excruciating pain, for which morphine seemed to be the only relief. The new limb not only offers real sensations of feeling, but has reduced the pain to minimal discomfort, and morphine is no longer required.
Professor Egger said, “the brain now receives real data rather than searching for information from the missing limb.” Egger points out that Rangger is a different person from the one he met in 2012. Back then, he never laughed and always had dark circles under his eyes. He was unable to sleep much more than two hours at night due to the pain, and had great difficulty walking with the conventional prosthesis. Today, Rangger is much more active. The 54 year-old runs, cycles and climbs, and his limp is barely noticeable when he walks.
Professor Eggar is also at the forefront of research on mind-controlled prosthesis. Since 2010 he has made several contributions to the field of mind-controlled artificial arms and hands. Eggar states that the principles are the same for the “feeling” prosthesis, except in reverse. Information is transmitted from the limb to the brain, instead of the other way around.
Currently, the high-tech prosthesis costs anywhere from $12,000 to $30,000 build. Egger hopes that small companies will begin building the artificial limb and help to reduce the cost.