The first human implantation of the Phantom X sensor took place in Australia, at Cabrini Health in Melbourne. The device is placed under the skin, over the muscles of the residual limb, and turns the electrical signals those muscles generate into wireless commands for a prosthetic limb.
The logic is simple: when a person tries to move fingers or a wrist they no longer have, the remaining muscles still produce electrical signals. The system detects and interprets them and translates them into commands for a compatible prosthetic, so that the movement happens the same way it would with an intact limb.
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An outpatient procedure without general anesthesia
The first participants were implanted in outpatient procedures lasting roughly an hour each, without general anesthesia. According to Phantom Neuro, this points to the simplicity and safety of the intervention, which it describes as closer to a cosmetic procedure than to neurosurgery. The operation was performed by plastic surgeon Michael Lo.
The study, called CYBORG, is an early feasibility study designed to evaluate the safety, performance and usability of Phantom X in people with upper-limb loss. Prosthetic care, occupational therapy and testing are provided by ProMotion Prosthetics and Enable Rehab.
Phantom Neuro, based in Austin, Texas, argues that its method is less invasive than traditional brain-computer interfaces, which require intervention on the brain. The field is moving fast on that front too: recently a double neural bypass implant restored movement and touch to a paralyzed man, while China started a trial on a 128-channel BCI. Phantom X instead relies on muscles the person already has.
What comes next
The company stresses that this is an early clinical milestone: Phantom X is investigational and not approved for commercial use. Conclusions about safety, effectiveness and the ability to improve prosthetic control will depend on further evaluation of the study.
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