Improving the Abilities of Bionic Arm Patients

Al writes "Tech Review has an article about the progress being made on prosthetic arms that can be controlled using nerves that once connected to the missing limb via muscles in the chest. Todd Kuiken, director of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago's Center for Bionic Medicine has pioneered the technique, which has so far given more than 30 patients the ability to control a mechanical prosthetic simply by thinking about moving their old arm. Those who have had the procedure report using their arm to slice hot peppers, open a bag of flour, put on a belt, operate a tape measure, or remove a new tennis ball from a container. The next step is to add sensing capabilities to the arms so that this information can be fed back to the reconnected nerves."

Comments

The big question:

[DurendalMac]

Can you safely whack off with the bionic arm? It's like giving yourself a stranger!

Re:The big question:

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

More along the lines of "giving yourself an inhuman mechanical claw"; but if that's how you roll...

Re:The big question:

[gad_zuki!]

No, but in this sales video you'll find how to easily win the hearts of attractive blonde women.

Re:The big question:

[Ragzouken]

Well if it isn't, there's always the bionic penis.

i bet

[Durin00]

one of these things cost an arm & a leg!

Any idea why they have to move the nerves?

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

TFA mentions that they have to relocate the remaining nerves(the chest seems to be a popular destination); but doesn't say why. Do the nerves atrophy if they are left in the stump? Is there some sort of feedback mechanism by which a nerve can detect whether or not it is still connected to a muscle?

Re:Any idea why they have to move the nerves?

[Garrett Fox]

I think what they're doing is sensing electrical signals generated by the muscles rather than directly by the nerves, and the nerve-moving is just done to route the usual mental input through that patch of (pectoral) muscle. That way you don't have to teach yourself to flex your pecs to move the robot arm; you try to control the missing arm and the signals are routed to the chest muscle, where they're read by the machine.

Dear Slashdot,

[Mr. Conrad]

I'm a one-armed commando in need of a bionic arm. However, I was hoping to acquire one with a grappling hook attachment instead of the ubiquitous mechanized hand replacements. I have reason to believe that Imperialist Nazis are trying to resurrect Adolf Hitler and believe a grappling hook would help me stop them, especially when my underdeveloped leg muscles and inability to jump vertically, diagonally, or horizontally are taken into account. Does anyone know where I might find such a gadget? Any information is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,
Ladd

Not impressed with any mechanical arms

[zymano]

Something is missing still. Do we know the language of nerve impulses?

Re:Not impressed with any mechanical arms

[elthicko]

We may not fully understand the complex calculations going on in the brain, but we do know that for motor control basically an electrical signal propagates down an axon which connects to a muscle. Once the electrical signal reaches the end there is a chemical reaction which triggers the muscle contraction. There are usually multiple axons connecting to a muscle (the amount active controlling the amount of contraction). So if you take the ends of these axons connecting to residual muscle from the amputated limb and measure the electrical signal you can determine whether the brain is trying to activate that muscle or not. Then you have an algorithm controlling your prosthesis to turn on a motor instead of a muscle.

Re:Not impressed with any mechanical arms

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, but you'd have to forfeit the control of a body part. And then you'd have to have the thing you're linked to only accept as much input as the limb you've forfeited had. So (for example), you couldn't cut off a pinkie and hook a keyboard up to it - the pinkie can only do six things (clench/unclench/"bow"/"straighten"/move-away-from-ring-finger/move-towards-ring-finger), and not very well at that. You might be able to hook a mouse up though (clench for click, unclench for right-click, the other four handling the 4 axes).

Re:Born 50 years too early.

[Garrett Fox]

Do you want to prevent that? If so, work to protect human freedom. More tech-toys that way, too.

Still a Kludge / Pay Attention to the Low End Too

[Garrett Fox]

This is good progress, but still a kludge because it uses muscles rather than a direct nerve attachment.

It's also worth following the attempts that've been made on the extreme low-end of the budget scale, to upgrade traditional prosthetics. (What is that one type called? Troutman Hook?) I'm more interested in the bionic ones because they're versatile and cool, but it's also important to consider who can afford the tech and to make it as widely available as practical.

Re:Born 50 years too early.

[Weedhopper]

I spend 9/10 months of the year working for a very well regarded humanitarian aid NGO.

If I am in your country on an assignment, it's likely because it's because there is either a war, massive natural disaster or a public health emergency beyond the capability of the locals to handle.

So yeah, most of the year, I don't have electronics, gadgets, internet, TV, electricity, running water, hot water, trash collection or city water/sewage.

So yes, please tell me again how to appreciate the things I have now.

Re:Go ahead! Make my day!

[Arthur Grumbine]

I know I'll get modded down for this, but, hmmm...Let's test this out...

Re:Born 50 years too early.

[Anonymous Coward]

I didn't know we had switched over to metric years already. I'd better go buy new calendars!