The project is multidisciplinary and involves several subprojects. We have so far been able to demonstrate that rat sciatic axons are capable of regenerating through the via holes of an implanted silicon sieve electrode. Furthermore we can register nerve signals via the chip after electrical stimulation of the nerve roots. An in vitro model has been set up and used to demonstrate that certain chip design can reduce the problem of crosstalk.

In future experiments the influence of chip design on regeneration success will be determined. We have also demonstrated that central nervous axons are capable of growing into a chip if attracted by pieces of peripheral nerve. ANN has been used to recognise complex muscle signals from multiple surface electrodes in order to associate specific signal patterns with specific movement of a virtual hand.

In two experiments the principle of artificial sensibility has been tested by either using piezoresistive sensors or sensors based on detecting vibrotactile stimuli using hearing sense. These experiments indicate that it is possible to create artificial sensibility in a prosthesis or a hand with sensory dysfunction.