FDA approves mind controlled prosthetic arm

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dragon
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FDA approves mind controlled prosthetic arm

Post by dragon »

A sophisticated arm can cost upwards of 50000, hope they have good insurance
Last week, the FDA announced it had approved the first prosthetic arm that’s capable of performing multiple simultaneous powered movements. The new Deka arm (codenamed Luke, after Luke Skywalker’s artificial hand) was developed by Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway. The project began in 2006 when DARPA funded multiple research initiatives in an attempt to create a better class of prosthetic device for veterans returning home from the Iraq War. Today’s FDA approval is a huge step for the Deka, as it means the devices are now clear for sale — provided the company can find a commercial partner willing to bring them to market.
Designing prosthetics

Humans have been building prosthetics for millennia; the oldest known artificial limb is the “Cairo Toe,” discovered in the tomb of a wealthy Egyptian noblewoman and thought to date to 950 BC. By the Middle Ages, craftsman had created artificial hands with intricate systems of pulleys and clamps that could securely grip a sword. The earliest known example of this type of prosthesis was made for the Franconian knight Götz von Berlich, pictured below.

Today, there are a number of artificial arms and hands, from single hooks to split hooks to complex limbs capable of multiple functions. Some systems are body-powered (meaning that movement of another part of the body articulates the limb) while others rely on batteries. The field is incredibly complex — a split hook (literally two hooks that can open and close to grip objects) can be body-powered or electrical and may be “voluntary open” (the limb is closed by default and requires energy to open) or “voluntary close” (force is required to grip an object). Each has its own advantages and disadvantages — and that’s the simplest kind of device.

A full consideration of the types of prostheses and they’re various advantages and disadvantages is therefore beyond the scope of this article, but I brought them up to put the Luke arm in context. (For more info on prosthetic limbs, our feature on Iron Man-like exoskeletons is a good place to start.) The media has a tendency to talk about advances in artificial limbs as a monolithic field, but in reality, amputees have very different needs and baseline capabilities and there is no “one-size fits all.”
What Deka does differently

The Deka Arm System is a battery-powered device that blends multiple approaches. Some of the Deka’s functions are controlled by myoelectricity, which means the device senses movement in various muscle groups via attached electrodes, then converts those muscle movements into motor control. This allows the user a more natural and (theoretically) intuitive method of controlling the arm rather than relying on a cross-body pulley system. The more advanced myoelectric systems can even transmit sensation back to the user.

What sets Deka apart is that it can also be configured to rely on wireless sensors embedded in the soles of a user’s shoes, and may even be capable of interfacing with some of the alternate cutting-edge techniques in prosthetic limb research. Using a technique known as targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR), researchers have experimented with transplanting nerves from damaged limbs into still-functioning muscle tissue. A person with a residual arm could have some of those nerves transplanted into the pectoral muscle. The artificial arm is again linked to the area using electrodes, and when the user thinks “I’m going to move my (missing) elbow,” the nerves still fire. The arm then picks up those movements — and adjusts itself accordingly.
Early Deka Arm

This type of control flexibility is essential to creating a device that can address the wide range of needs from various amputees and Deka’s degree of fine-grained control is remarkable.

The real challenge for the Deka arm, as for many other types of sophisticated prostheses, is cost. A simple prosthestic arm (an essentially cosmetic device) can run $3000, while a sophisticated prosthesis can crack $50,000. In many cases, limbs have a relatively short lifespan; it’s not unusual to need a replacement every 3-4 years due to wear and tear on the device. Visual presentation is also a major issue — amputees often own multiple prostheses, including cosmetic ones, simply to avoid the embarrassment of wearing an obviously artificial limb. That’s one reason why the Deka Arm System’s design has evolved towards a much more normal-looking hand — many amputees don’t want to wear crude-looking mechanical devices.

The prosthetic market is too broad, and the needs of amputees too specific to declare any single device a one-size-fits-all success, but the Deka looks as though it could move the science of amputation forward and offer a significant number of veterans and amputees a device that more closely mimics natural human function than anything we’ve seen before.
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edit I don't know why they call it mind controlled when it functions by sensing movement in various muscled groups
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Napoleon the Clown
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Re: FDA approves mind controlled prosthetic arm

Post by Napoleon the Clown »

The old-ass method involved pulleys and shit that got moved by entirely different areas. This particular arm doesn't require that, and it even can be controlled by messages sent by the nerves that controlled the arm. That does require surgery to direct them to a readily accessed spot, but use of the arm after recovering from said surgery is just about as natural as an organic arm, as far as mental effort goes. Still isn't as quick as the original, but it's still a huge step up from the stuff we've been using for the past several decades. It's goddamn awesome, in my opinion.
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Re: FDA approves mind controlled prosthetic arm

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dragon wrote:Visual presentation is also a major issue — amputees often own multiple prostheses, including cosmetic ones, simply to avoid the embarrassment of wearing an obviously artificial limb.
I think that's starting to go by the wayside - as these limbs become more and more functional it seems people become more concerned with "how well does it work?" than "how does it look?" Also, the recent young amputees seem far less concerned with "natural" looking limbs, I've seen some obviously artificial but still cosmetically appealing artificial limbs of late.
Napoleon the Clown wrote:That does require surgery to direct them to a readily accessed spot, but use of the arm after recovering from said surgery is just about as natural as an organic arm, as far as mental effort goes. Still isn't as quick as the original, but it's still a huge step up from the stuff we've been using for the past several decades.
You need surgery to either amputate a limb or to "clean up" after an traumatic amputation anyway, maybe in the future they can combine the surgeries into one. Even if they can't, I'd be willing to undergo a couple surgeries to get something functional, wouldn't you?
It's goddamn awesome, in my opinion.
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Borgholio
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Re: FDA approves mind controlled prosthetic arm

Post by Borgholio »

edit I don't know why they call it mind controlled when it functions by sensing movement in various muscled groups
When it becomes like The Borg or Luke Skywalker's hand, I'll call it mind controlled.

Regardless of the semantics, it's still a good piece of news. These things are getting more and more advanced. Definitely a far cry from a peg leg or a hook.
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