WOW! - DARPA bionic arm (video & pic)

[docm]

Check out this video (link....)

Patients Test an Advanced Prosthetic Arm

By Emily Singer - Tuesday, February 10, 2009

A new surgical technique, developed by scientists at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, allows patients who have lost arms to use residual nerve signals to control a prosthetic limb. This video shows three patients testing a prototype limb being developed by DARPA. The patients can perform complex tasks, including picking up a cup, grasping a cracker without breaking it, and putting a spoon in a cup. Video by DEKA Research and Development, and The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago - Read the Blog

 

[Boris_Badenov]

Chances are slim something like that would work for me, (my hand has been gone too long) but I'd sure like to give it a shot. :mrgreen:

 

[Saiph]

Wow! is right! That's impressive. I wonder how much feedback the device gives/requires. I.e. does it give feedback so the person decides how hard to hold the hammer (or cracker) or does it decide that on it's own?

I'm thoroughly impressed!

 

[silylene]

If that chic had a more feminine arm, she'd look hotter. She stars in the second half of the video.

 

[nimbus]

I wish they could do those without the nervous displacement surgery. It doesn't seem right to me that you have to do that for it to work..

 

[Saiph]

what is nervous displacement surgery? I can take a guess from the name (exposing/shifting nerves).

 

[nimbus]

Just a made up term referring to the nerves they move from the arm to the upper chest, for the prosthesis to pick up signals from.

 

[docm]

Wow! is right! That's impressive. I wonder how much feedback the device gives/requires. I.e. does it give feedback so the person decides how hard to hold the hammer (or cracker) or does it decide that on it's own?

I'm thoroughly impressed!

My readings are that it provides gross pressure, fine pressure (touch) and temperature feedback - same for most of the other bionic arms being worked on now.

Another system doesn't need the nerve surgery - brain signals can be read directly through electrodes, at least in monkeys. Not so far fetched as it sounds as brain electrodes are used now for "brain pacemakers" that treat depression so severe that drugs don't work. The wires are run down the neck to the upper chest wall to a pacemaker type device that stimulates the proper areas.
.
Easy enough to use an even smaller package to pass movement signals transdermally to an outside computer in the arm or in a belt pack for processing IMO.

Video 1....

 

[docm]

Making this a post subtopic because the two techs are very closely related in that they treat the same condition - amputation.

A few weeks ago DARPA ended Phase 1 of their Restorative Injury Repair project by successfully generating a blastema* in an otherwise non-regenerating animal - a HUGE advance as these are the progenitors of a new limb or organ. This is the goals statement issued by DARPA when Phase I started - note the last sentence;

The vision for the Restorative Injury Repair (RIR) Program is to fully restore the function of complex tissue (muscle, nerves, skin, etc.) after traumatic injury on the battlefield. These injuries include both kinetic (i.e., penetrating wounds) as well as other destructive injuries (chemical and thermal burns, musculoskeletal injuries, blast overpressure, etc.). RIR aims to replace the current concepts of “wound coverage” by fibrosis and scarring with true “wound healing” by regeneration of fully differentiated, functional tissue.

The program will achieve its goals by developing a comprehensive understanding of the wound environment, including cellular elements, matrix, inflammatory mediators, growth factors, nutrients, substrate utilization, biofilms, and ultimately processes of morphogenesis leading to anatomic and functional restoration. This is an extremely aggressive, milestone-driven program, with a Phase I effort focused on defining the wound environment and generating a blastema in an otherwise non-regenerating animal. This work will be followed by a Phase II effort, which will culminate in the restoration of a functional multi-tissue structure in a mammal.

Phase 2 started shortly after with several major universities, the Worcester Polytechnic Institute and CellThera Inc (a startup in a joint venture with WPI) participating.

Looks like a horse race, 60/40 in favor of the cyborgs.

* a blastema is a mass of undifferentiated cells capable of growth and regeneration into organs or body parts.They are found in embryos and animals that can regenerate body parts as adults; salamanders etc.

 

[brandbll]

Chances are slim something like that would work for me, (my hand has been gone too long) but I'd sure like to give it a shot. :mrgreen:

Not to worry buddy. I've been developing my own bionic arm that i've had this woman testing lately.

Everything was going well. Except that now the lady that was testing it ran off claiming she had to kill some guy i've never heard of before. If i can get a hold of her again and get that arm back i'll send it down to you for a test spin. Hopefully she doesn't something stupid, that arm was state of the art.

 

[jimglenn]

I USED TO PARTY WITH THESE GUYS BUT STOPPED WHEN THEY STOLE MY IDEAS:



WWII: Attach a bomb to a cat and drop it from a dive-bomber on to Nazi ships. The cat, hating water, will "wrangle" itself on to enemy ship's deck. In tests cats became unconscious in mid-air.

WWII: Attach incendiaries to bats. Induce hibernation and drop them from planes. They wake up, fly into factories etc and blow up. Failed to wake from hibernation and fell to their deaths.

Vietnam War: Dolphins trained to tear off diving gear of Vietcong divers and drag them to interrogation, sources linked to the programme say. Syringes later placed on dolphin flippers to inject carbon dioxide into divers, who explode. US Navy has always denied using mammals to harm humans.

NOT TO MENTION the hydraulic elephant of Vietnam!!!!! :twisted: