Digital foot to revolutionise bionic Timbs

A digital foot sole that enables scientists to see the neurological signals that control how we walk and balance, has been developed by researchers at the University of Sheffield.

The groundbreaking computational model, which provides a digital simulation of the signals that continuously flow through the body from the foot to the brain, could be used to design more sophisticated neuroprosthetics - artificial limbs that can give the brain feedback about the world around us, in electrical form.

Called FootSim, the model allows scientists to map how our nervous system continuously responds to contact with the soles of our feet and changes in pressure points in unprecedented detail.