clipped from: www.abc.net.au   

Amputees could 'feel' their lost arms and hands after scientists reconnected the nerves to their chests, according to a report released today.

prosthetic limb

The researchers say the experiment holds promise for providing sensation in artificial limbs.

Scientists at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and Northwestern University worked with two patients who had lost arms.

They re-routed key nerves, which had once transferred sensation from the hand to the brain, to their chests.

The nerves re-established themselves in the chest muscles over several months.

Over this time, the scientists applied physical pressure, heat and cold, and electrical stimuli to the areas of the nerves
patients said they could feel their missing arms and hands.
In some of the testing, the patients could even specify which area on the hand they could feel
Moreover, the patients consistently distinguished between the sensation of the chest nerves and those of the missing limbs
creating a portal to the sensory pathways of a lost limb