Australian researchers have developed electronic artificial skin that reacts to pain just like real skin, opening the way to better prosthetics, smarter robotics and non-invasive alternatives to skin grafts. The new research was published in Advanced Intelligent Systems journal on Tuesday. The prototype device developed by a team at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in Melbourne, Australia, can electronically replicate the way human skin senses pain. The device mimics the bodys near-instant feedback response and can react to painful sensations with the same lighting speed that nerve signals travel to the brain. In a report published on RMIT website, Lead researcher Madhu Bhaskaran said the pain-sensing prototype was a significant advance towards next-generation biomedical technologies and intelligent robotics. "Skin is our bodys largest sensory organ, with complex features designed to send rapid-fire warning signals when anything hurts. Were sensing things all the time through the skin but our pain response only kicks in at a certain point, like when we touch something too hot or too sharp," Bhaskaran explained. The new artificial skin reacts instantly when pressure, heat or cold reach a painful threshold. Its a critical step forward in the future development of smart prosthetics and intelligent robotics. The new research filed as a provisional patent, combines three technologies previously pioneered and patented by the team: stretchable electronics combining oxide materials with biocompatible silicon to deliver transparent, unbreakable and wearable electronics; temperature-reactive self-modifying coatings 1,000 times thinner than a human hair; and a brain-mimicking memory consisting of electronic memory cells that imitate the way the brain uses long-term memory to recall and retain previous information. Bhaskaran said the memory cells in each prototype were responsible for triggering a response when the pressure, heat or pain reached a set threshold. "Weve essentially created the first electronic sensors replicating the key features of the bodys complex system of neurons, neural pathways and receptors that drive our perception of sensory stimuli," he said.