Italians develop bionic fingertip

(ANSA) - Milan, March 12 - Italian researchers have developed a bionic fingertip that is able to recognise texture, pressure, hardness, curvature and other information deriving from touch, media reported Thursday.
    The system "is formed by a matrix containing small sensors simulating the distribution of the nerve endings that are naturally present in the tips of the fingers," said Calogero Oddo, director of the Human Machine Nexus Laboratory at the Sant'Anna school of advanced studies in Pisa.
    Consequently, it is able to preceive and codify all the dimensions of touch. The artificial device could be ready for human trial within a year. Its primary aim is to improve the performance of prosthetic hands but it could also be applied to industrial robotics and to a new generation of tactile televisions and smartphones, researchers said.