Slashdot Mirror


Guitarist Hopes To Play Again With The Help of Bionic Hand

Dorian Cox, the 27-year-old guitarist of the indie band The Long Blondes, thought his guitar playing days were over after he suffered a stroke. He now has a glimmer of hope thanks to some neurological physiotherapy which includes a cutting-edge piece of medical technology. The SaeboFlex helps patients by supporting their wrists and helping them grasp and release objects. "It's a fantastic service, it's helping tremendously and I think it can work wonders for me and others — it's almost like a gym for my hand. I know things might never be the same again and nobody can give me a definite answer about whether I'll play guitar again but I'm getting back on track with their help," Mr. Cox said. This thing looks really cool, and I'm sure many people will benefit from it, though I can't help but wonder if they make a model that lets you shoot your fist at an enemy.

13 of 72 comments (clear)

  1. Another Possibility by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    If the "cutting-edge piece of medical technology" isnt enough to play real guitar, he could always play bass.

    Like William Murderface.

  2. not a bionic hand at all by 2ms · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This is in no way whatsoever a bionic hand. A bionic hand is a powered orthosis that has both intelligence in the form of things like feedback contol and intent recognition + integration with the nervous system in some way. This thing here is a fancy brace, basically. Nothing at all like a "bionic hand"! This is probably the worst misuse of the word "bionic" that I've ever seen.

    1. Re:not a bionic hand at all by Gleapsite · · Score: 4, Informative
      Dictionary.com says:

      bionic
      -adjective
      1.utilizing electronic devices and mechanical parts to assist humans in performing difficult, dangerous, or intricate tasks, as by supplementing or duplicating parts of the body

      And this uses mechanical parts to assist a human in doing things.

      --
      face the world with eyes of fire.
    2. Re:not a bionic hand at all by DreamsAreOkToo · · Score: 4, Interesting

      If we fix the grandparent, though, he still has a point.

      "This is probably the worst misuse of the word 'hand' that I've ever seen."

      Really, when you call something a bionic hand, you're implying it is a prosthetic limb. He still has his hand, it just doesn't work so great. The article is intentionally "misleading" but they "justify" it by including "quotes."

  3. Re:No, you were not! by GrpA · · Score: 4, Informative

    Yes, strokes can happen spontaneously overnight. There are lots of people out there who just develop blood clots without any known medical or physiological reason and it often comes on suddenly.

    Clots can lead to strokes and PE's

    And you can still be in good health (medically speaking) and get a thrombosis.

    GrpA

    --
    Enjoy science fiction? "Turing Evolved" - AI, Mecha, Androids and rail-gun battles. What more could you want?
  4. Re:No, you were not! by Roland+Piquepaille · · Score: 4, Informative

    That's a lot of BS. A friend of mine had a stroke in is 30s: he kept fit, didn't drink, didn't smoke, didn't eat too much, and you how it happened? He was taking a dump, was pushing hard with his mouth closed, and collapsed right there. The hospital doctor I talk to said the extreme change of blood pressure when someone does that is enough to burst a vessel even with the healthiest person.

    Incidentally, I who drinks coffee, alcohol and smokes the cigar, never rushes my morning business anymore. I've seen the result, nosiree...

  5. Human MIDI controller? by spintriae · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I've seen the way some of these types of bionic body parts work by recognizing brain patterns associated with specific movements. I wonder how far off this technology is from allowing musicians to compose music on synthesizers just by thinking about the notes. People like me who are far better at composing than playing would be able to make some pretty incredible music with an ability like that. And people like Dorian Cox would have a much better shot at playing music again, because let's face it, guitar is hard enough when your hands are slightly cold, much less completely numb and paralyzed. There's only so much you can do with a bionic hand.

  6. Re:No, you were not! by cgenman · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Or another way of looking at it: The tools we have to define good health cannot be used to rule out the possibility of a stroke at any moment.

    My uncle died of an aneurysm in his skull one night. He was in his late 20's and quite healthy. They still don't know why it formed.

    It may be comforting to say things like "things like strokes do not happen overnight." It lets us sleep better. However, they do actually happen over night, and genuinely healthy people die all the time. By being healthy you reduce your chances of impending death, but you don't eliminate them.

  7. Other side of the story by Korbeau · · Score: 3, Funny

    Bionic hand hopes to play again with the help of a guitarist.

  8. No need for a bionic arm... by jayloden · · Score: 4, Informative

    Heh. You don't need a bionic hand for playing guitar.

    Keith Xander has been doing it for years with one arm - and well, too!

    Hell, there's even a guy who plays guitar with no arms! Granted, it's mostly Tom Petty songs, but still ;)

  9. Re:No, you were not! by mvanvoorden · · Score: 2, Funny

    Just go away, you insensitive clot!

  10. Re:No, you were not! by moxley · · Score: 4, Funny

    Thank you.

    Taking a shit was fun enough before, now I have to worry about sudden stroke death.....FUCK!

  11. Re:No, you were not! by MistrBlank · · Score: 2, Informative

    The bottom line, you shouldn't have to push. Believe it or not, changing the amount of fluids (particularly water) as well as upping your fiber intake should do the trick.

    Since I've changed that much of my diet (more water and a glass or two of Konsyl, a pure fiber supplement, every day) the crap literally falls out of me and in massive quantity. At the worst, your breathing and sitting up straight while taking a bowel movement should be enough to work it out of you. Remember to breathe, the displacement of organs that results from breathing causes a massaging type of action to help move things along in your system. Any strain beyond that and there is something wrong.

    I really wish there were a manual on this kind of thing, I never realized how bad some of those "common" bathroom habits were for your body. For instance, all those people that sit on the toilet while reading increase the chance of developing hemorrhoids or other blood vessel related complications due to the extended stress it puts on that part of the body.