DAYTON, Tennessee (AP) -- Jesse Sullivan has two prosthetic arms, but he can climb a ladder at his house and roll on a fresh coat of paint. He's also good with a weed-whacker, bending his elbow and rotating his forearm to guide the machine.
The motions are coordinated and smooth because his left arm is a bionic device controlled by his brain. He thinks, "Close hand," and electrical signals sent through surgically re-routed nerves make it happen.
Doctors describe Sullivan as the first amputee with a thought-controlled artificial arm.
That prompted researchers to make improvements, part of a U.S. government initiative to refine artificial limbs that connect body and mind. The National Institutes of Health has supported the research, joined more recently by the military's research-and-development wing, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Some 411 U.S. troops in Iraq and 37 in Afghanistan have had wounds that cost them at least one limb, the Army Medical Command says. - CNN
Posts: 17027 | Location: Lincoln Place, Granite City, IL, USA | Registered: 06-03-02
That is truely fascinating, especially the part that describes attaching the arm nerves to the chest muscle which, in addition to controlling the bionic arm, also allows him to feel sensation in the missing arm when his various areas of his chest is touched. I sure hope future models of this arm can be refined tho. The bulkiness of the shoulder of the prosthetic really makes the subject look very robotic which I found a tad bit unnerving when I watched the video.
Posts: 9192 | Location: Atlanta, GA, USA | Registered: 06-03-02
One of my very good friends from college and med school Jon Wolpaw pioneered this concept, being the first to show a person could learn to control a computer cursor with "thoughts," using electrodes on the scalp. I think this is different, however: the elctrodes are attached over nerves translocated from the missing appendage, so the "thoughts" are more normal: the attempts to move involve the same mental actions that would have been done had the extremity been in place. In the case of my friend, it was more of a bio-feedback thing, using "brainwaves" and leaning how to apply them. It's all quite cool
Posts: 1505 | Location: Puget Sound, USA | Registered: 06-03-02
That is quite remarkable. With the ever increasing technologies and miniaturization of parts, soon these devices will be less expensive and more obtainable and usable by more people.
(Star Wars here we come! ... remember how Vader et all could use prostheses exactly like their original limbs?) )
Posts: 9078 | Location: PA, USA | Registered: 06-05-02
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