Groundbreaking Kiwi research aims to reduce amputees’ phantom pain

IAN Winson takes painkillers three times a day to numb the pain in his legs – even though his legs aren’t there.

The engineer lost both legs in a gas leak explosion in Onehunga six years ago and says it is sometimes ‘‘disturbing’’ how strongly he feels that his legs are still there, amplified by the constant gnawing, burning pain he has learned to live with.

He’s one of the around 80 per cent of amputees who experience ‘‘phantom pain’’ – ongoing pain and sensations in a limb that is not there. But now those sufferers could find long-lasting relief thanks to groundbreaking research by Auckland University of Technology student Aaron Cleland.

Cleland’s work, Neural Amusement, seeks to retrain the way a person’s brain controls and connects with a phantom limb.

And he’s created a stage one prototype using a sensor which attaches to the residual limb, picks up on nerve movements or muscle activity, and transmits different bursts of colour, light or sound on to a control box and laptop.

Instead of trying to connect with a limb that is no longer there, NA prompts the person to engage with their phantom limb with each muscle movement.

Put simply: ‘‘They can interact with a different world, outside of their body, using a limb that isn’t there anymore’’.

These interactions could promote changes in the brain, in much the same way as children’s brains develop through play, Cleland said.

By engaging and bringing attention to the various nerves and responses felt in a residual limb, phantom pain could likely decrease, Cleland said.