In a time of technological advances, things seem to be happening by leaps instead of small steps. German prosthetics company Otto Bock has taken another one of those large leaps and created a real bionic hand which you’ll see is nothing short of amazing. When it comes to the very thought of amputation most of us would cringe. However, there are those like Milo who have voluntarily had something amputated.
Milo, an austrian man, has volunteered to have his right hand amputated. The reason is because he lost the use of this hand in a motorcycle accident. Milo has been the second elective surgery of this type that Professor Oskar Aszmann, a Viennese surgeon, has done. After the amputation and the stump heals, a bionic hand will be connected and controlled by his own nerve signals in his arm—pretty cool.
However, as was mentioned before was that this is Professor Oskar Aszmanns second surgery. Last year, 24-year-old Patrick underwent the same process. Patrick also lost control of one of his hands after being electrocuted at work, and after several different methods of trying to restore use, he made the decision to go with the bionic hand. Patricks thoughts about the new hand was that “it was very cool – I did not do things with my hand for three years and then you put on the new hand and one moment later, you can move it. It’s great.”
The new hand has six different sensors that are fitted to nerves within the arm. Using the same brain signals that you would give to a working hand, the bionic hand is able to flex the rist, move fingers, and twist among other different movements.
The hand Patrick uses is the latest model and can move a significant amount more than the previous generation. Previous generation models only allowed for movement such as pinching and were much more limited as to how the rist moved. The rist in this model allows amputees, like Patrick, to move the rist, grip things, and pinch things. Again, another leap forward in the world of technology, and a significant leap in the progress of bionic limbs.
To see other technological advances see the X-Finger and the REX Bionics Robotic Exoskeleton that will hopefully help paraplegics walk again.
Via: BBC
