Nerve Surgery Leaves Woman With Feeling in an Arm That Isn't There

The Next Frontier

Doctors hope that Mitchell's new sensations will give them greater insight into how the brain deals with injury, and they also hope that it will help pave the way for future prosthetic technology. The next frontier is designing a prosthetic arm that will not only be able to touch but also to feel.

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"When you touch something with this prosthetic hand, it will feel like your hand. When you touch your hot cup of coffee, you'll know it's warm," Kuiken said. Mitchell is committed to the research, even spending most of her vacations at Kuiken's lab, test-driving the latest prosthetic equipment. Mitchell said that although she knows that she is a patient, she now feels that she is also part of the research team.

As for being called the "real life Bionic Woman," Mitchell finds it funny. She said she has never seen the 1970s show that starred Lindsay Wagner, but she is asked by children if she can do cool things with her bionic arm, like lift cars.

Mitchell doesn't want to be superhuman. She just wants what she has now -- a second chance at a normal life.

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