BIONIC EXTREMITY AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING IT Russian patent published in 2015 - IPC A61F2/54 A61F2/60 A61L27/00 B82B1/00 

FIELD: medicine.

SUBSTANCE: extremity comprises an artificial skeleton representing a bone-shaped pivotally connected items with attached working organs. The latter are presented by artificial muscles and nerves. The muscles comprise shape-memory intermetallic fibres and nylon and/or polyethylene filaments. The nerves comprise an electrically conductive polymer with through porosity; their one end is set into the artificial muscles. What is also presented is a method for manufacturing a bionic extremity. The artificial nerves are produced by mixing a foam enhancer and at least one organic electrically conductive polymer. The produced mixture is heated to a decomposition temperature of the foam enhancer, kept until the process of through pore formation is completed, cooled down and flown through a draw hole. The produced fibre is impregnated with Na+ and K+ ion solution and wrapped with at least one layer of a polymeric dielectric. A cation-exchange membrane is applied on one end. The artificial muscles are produced by lacing a medium consisting of at least one polyorganosiloxane with one or more fibres of at least one shape-memory intermetallic compound, as well as nylon and/or polyethylene filaments. The artificial nerves are then set into the artificial muscles so that motor and/or mixed nerve segments cleared from the polymeric dielectric contact the intermetallic fibres and nylon and/or polyethylene filaments. The sensory and/or mixed nerve ends free from the applied membrane are connected to a piezoelectric array.

EFFECT: accurate and smooth motions, ability to touch and feel temperature, extremity survival and simplified installation process.

10 cl, 8 ex, 3 tbl, 3 dwg