The Minority Report

Very exciting for all the veteran’s coming home from Iraq that are missing limbs.

Todd Kuiken and colleagues at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago first reported the technique in a single patient in 2007, and now they have tested it in several other patients. The patients could all successfully control the advanced prosthetic, which features motorized shoulders, elbows, wrists and hands. They could move the arm in space, mimic hand motions, and pick up a varietyt of objects, including a water glass, a delicate cracker, and a checker rolling across a table. (Three patients are shown using the arm in the video below.) The findings are reported today in Journal of the American Medical Association.

Technology Review: Blogs: TR Editors’ blog: Patients Test an Advanced Prosthetic Arm