Explosive new research in bionic technology for Amputees.

     Globally, there are approximately 1 million limb amputations every year. In America and Western Europe, there are nearly 4 million amputees combined.  Most amputations, however, are not attributed to war time injuries.  Over 80% of amputations are due to Degenerative Nerve Disease due to type 2 Diabetes and Vascular Diseases such as Congenital Heart Disease, Dyscascular disease, Trauma and Cancer. 

      With growing trends in amputations, the topic has become hot among researches looking to give amputees better quality of life conditions.   So much so that the prosthetic limb industry is now in a race for technologies that appeal to amputees.   And from this, has come the Bionic hand. 

      What is the Bionic Hand?   The bionic hand is a prosthetic limb in the shape of a hand. It responds to the humans nervous system and allows the amputee to control the limb and perform simple tasks.  Luke Skywalker's robotic hand in real life?   It appears the road to this sort of technology is currently underway.

      Bebionic, a US company based out of San Antonio Texas has begun a 4 month trial for 7 lucky Amputees with the hand.  The results so far, have been extremely positive.  An amputee, Nigel Ackland from Cambridgeshire England, has reported that he can perform simple tasks such as playing cards, tying his shoe and drinking from a plastic bottle.

" It is controlled by the same signals from the user's brain that would have been used to operate his original, flesh and blood arm.  When the muscles in the upper arm are flexed by the thoughts, these movements are detected by sensors that trigger one of 14 pre-programmed grips, mirroring human movements. The different grip patterns include a clenched fist, a pointed finger and a pinching motion, according to how the user tenses their upper arm.  The hand features a lifelike appearance and grip patterns which can be wirelessly programmed and tailored to suit each individual’s requirements. "  --dailymail.co.uk

     Yet Bebionic is not the only company making ground breaking work in this field.  Now a researcher out of Ecole Polyechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland has created a Bionic Hand that allows the user to sense feeling.  The researcher, Silvestro Micera, has stated that "This is real progress, real hope for amputees.  It will be the first prosthetic that will provide real-time sensory feedback for grasping." 

    An unnamed amputee out of Rome has been selected for trials with the hand and the EPFL reports that the hand could be in production as early as 2015.  Where do you stand on this?   Are you one of the 1 in 200 people world-wide at risk for needing amputation?  Such questions are scary to pose. But with new ground breaking research, it is also interesting to wonder what it would be like to actually wear and use one of these Hands.

M.

Sources:
Statistics by Country for Amputations
Type 2 Diabetes and Amputation
Amputee Statistics you ought to know
Bebionic
Man with the world's most advanced bionic hand can now tie his own shoelaces (and, more importantly, drink beer)
Touching breakthrough: Bionic hand to return sense of feeling