Prosthetic arms and legs that are being developed in today’s age are 100 times better than their predecessors because multi-million-dollar research is being carried out so that amputees could lead a normal life after complicated surgeries.
Prosthetics do have a long history but people are now more fascinated by the robotic development in the prosthesis.
Here are some true examples serving as proof that technological advancements have changed the future of this field.
Revolutionary Mind-Controlled Prosthetic Arm
This isn’t like normal prosthetic wear that you see once in a blue moon. Instead, it is advanced prosthetic wear that is controlled directly by the neural activity of the wearer. It is a high-tech prosthetic arm developed by John Hopkins laboratories in conjunction with DARPA.
Its currently being tested on a patient of Florida. The main purpose of this testing procedure is to assess its capabilities.
However, this high-tech prosthetic arm has its limitations as well. It is not waterproof and spilling water all over it would severely damage its internal electronics. Moreover, its also prohibited whilst driving.
Nerf Gun Prosthetic Arm
It is a high-tech artificial hand by Hackerloop. Engineers at Hackerloop industries have been successful in developing a nerf gun prosthetic arm for the amputees. This product has not been commercialized by Hackerloop but the great trait of this device is that the amputee can easily operate it by flexing his forearm muscles.
This prosthetic arm is integrated with EMG technology that is capable of reading the electrical signals generated by the forearm muscle tissues of the wearer.
Luke-To Help Amputees Feel Again
Haptix in collaboration with DARPA, University of Utah and DEKA built a robotic prosthetic arm that has the capability to make recipients ‘feel’ again. This product has not been commercialized yet because it is under development but the engineers are almost done.
Using this prosthetic arm, the amputee would not only be able to feel again but control the prosthetic arm through his neural activities.
This device is nicknamed as ‘Luke’. It allows Kevin Walgamott, who lost his arm just 14 years ago, to feel and grasp objects.
Robotic Prosthetic Arm
The University of Chicago in collaboration with DARPA built an animal prosthetic robotic arm that could help the chronic amputees to control the artificial limb.
Neuroscientists at the research center of UOC have introduced a prosthetic arm for a monkey. The main purpose of this experiment is to showcase that even amputees born without limbs could control the prosthetic limbs using this device.
The experiment included the use and implantation of electrode rays in the monkey’s brain. After that, they were taught to grasp objects using the robotic prosthetic arm.
Easton LeChappele’s Cost-Effective Prosthetic Robotic Arm
This is currently the cheapest robotic prosthetic arm available in the market with a cost of around $4,000. It is also available with open-source plans. The producer Easton LeChappele’s has claimed that his prosthetic robotic arm could change the lives of thousands of amputees.
He basically built the design using a 3-D printer and reduced the cost from $100,000 to $4,000.
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