Bionic Arm Provides Hope for Amputees

[JazzRemington]

Bionic Arm Provides Hope for Amputees
Posted by Zonk on Thursday September 14, @01:48PM
from the thinking-differently dept.

Biotech Science Technology
Static-MT writes to mention a CNN article about what doctors are referring to as the first thought-controlled artificial limb. Arm owner Jesse Sullivan has two prosthetic limbs, and the left one is an advanced prototype in development by the folks at DARPA. From the article: "Sullivan's bionic arm represents an advance over typical artificial arms, like the right-arm prosthesis he uses, which has a hook and operates with sequential motions. There is no perceivable delay in the motions of Sullivan's flesh-colored, plastic-like left arm. Until now, it has been nearly impossible to recreate the subtle and complex motion of a human arm."

http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/09/14/1627247

[Janus]

The supply is extremely limited at this point; Claudia Mitchell's bionic arm cost $4 million!
The Bionic Woman (http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/meetthe4millionwoman)

However, this is a very interesting and quite beneficial development.

[Physco Bitch]

I think this is very good progress, i can only imagine how many peoples lifes this will change - when they become widely avalible. Very good indeed, shame about the price tag at the moment - but that doesn't change the fact of how great a step forward this is.

[Janus]

Hmm...it looks like these arms also have the ability to sense heat and pressure along with a good amount of dexterity.

bionic woman can feel it when people shake her prosthetic hand (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060918/hl_afp/ushealthsciencebionic_060918132319)

[Jazzratt]

Hopefully one day we'll be producing arms that improve on our originals. This looks like a step closer to that goal.

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

I think I wanna get rid of this crummy organic arm and get me a bionic one! They're all the rage.