BOFFINS have unveiled the first bionic hand with a sense of touch that can be worn outside a lab.

Italian woman Almerina Mascarello is the first person to use the pioneering technology after losing her left hand in an accident.

4 Almerina Mascarello lost her left hand in a devastating accent almost a decade ago Credit: BBC

The prosthetic hand has sensors that detect whether objects are soft or hard.

The messages, sent back to a computer, are turned into signals the human brain understands.

Data is relayed to Almernia’s brain using tiny electrode implants in her arm nerves.

She proved the gadget worked by telling whether objects were soft or hard while wearing a blindfold.

4 Almerina's prosthetic hand relays data to Almerina’s brain using tiny electrode implants in her arm nerves Credit: BBC

4 Italian woman Almerina Mascarell carries around a computer which converts signals from her bionic hand into a language the human brain understands Credit: BBC

HOW BIONIC HANDS WORK ALMERINA's prosthetic hand works through sensors that detect information on whether the object is hard or soft. The signals that Almenira picks up are connected to a portable computer in a rucksack that coverts these messages so the brain can understand it. Information is recieved to the brain through small electrodes which are impacted in the upper arm. Robotic and prosthetic limbs are not better than human hands, but scientists believe this could be a reality in the future.

She told the BBC: “The feeling is spontaneous as if it were your real hand; you’re finally able to do things

that before were difficult, like getting dressed, putting on shoes - all mundane but important things - you feel complete.”

An international team of scientists produced the world’s first feeling bionic hand in 2014 but it was too big to use in real life.

Now the same team have made it small enough to fit in a rucksack.

4 Almerina Mascarello has described her revolutionary bionic hand as 'spontaneous' and it feels 'real' Credit: BBC

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They include engineers, neuroscientists, surgeons and robotics experts from Italy, Switzerland and Germany.

The team reckons humans could one day wear robotic arms that are better than their natural limbs.

Prof Paolo Rossini, a neurologist at University Hospital Agostino Gemelli in Rome, said: “Once you can control a robotic prosthesis with your brain you can think about creating one that allows more complex movements than a hand with five fingers.”