Targeted muscle reinnervation enables your brain to control prosthetic limbs

If you're suddenly overcome with an eerie feeling of déjà vu, fret not, as this idea has certainly been brainstormed before. As scientists aim to make prosthetic limbs more user-friendly, a certain physiatrist at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and professor at Northwestern University has developed a technique that enables artificial arms to react directly to the brain's thoughts. The process, dubbed targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR), works by rewiring residual nerves that once carried information to the now-lost appendage to the chest; when the person thinks to move their arm, the chest muscle contracts, and with the help of an electromyogram (EMG), the signal is "directed to a microprocessor in the artificial arm which decodes the data and tells the arm what to do." Currently, "only" four movements are possible after the procedure, but studies are already in full swing to determine if TMR could be used to bless future patients with an even fuller of range of motion.

[Image courtesy of ScienceDaily]

[allaina @ Nov 13th 2007 9:44AM]

you know, we say 'only four' movements, but when you think that previously, there was NOTHING available to these patients(except taking their other arm and positioning it..), it's a miracle of sorts.

besides, if they're at four, you know they'll stop at nothing. figuring it out was probably the hardest part; now that they've done that, the steps are probably easier to take.

[Kenundrum @ Nov 13th 2007 9:52AM]

I remember seeing a segment on Beyond Tomorrow on the science channel of a guy who was using this kind of device... he lost one of his arms and doctors moved the muscles/nerves around to a spot on his chest and it made his prosthetic arm move... they showed what it looked like without the prosthetic and it was creepy... like an old guy flexing his pecks... but he had much more use of his arm and hopefully this can help many more people

[Yubastard @ Nov 13th 2007 10:56AM]

me too, but, like, 3 years ago? this is all over the news now, yet it's old news... anyways, kudos, indeed! this is exactly what we need!

[LesbianHam @ Nov 13th 2007 12:24PM]

Exactly what I was thinking.. :/

[Jonathon @ Nov 13th 2007 9:53AM]

A completely gross simplification of the technology, but its just electrical impulses. Eventually they'll figure out how to map more and give an even wider range of movement, but lets take progress where we can get it. Major kudos to all involved.

[Fatima @ Nov 13th 2007 9:56AM]

el oh el, he is one of my profs. I am a Bioengineering major at Northwestern.

[andrew @ Nov 13th 2007 10:12AM]

go cats.

[Ryan Trevisol @ Nov 13th 2007 10:21AM]

I say, about TIME. It's 2007, we don't have flying cars, the least "science" could give us is superstrong dextrous prosthetic limbs.

[John @ Nov 13th 2007 10:55AM]

We have the technology...

[Matteo @ Nov 13th 2007 2:43PM]

Thats not quite new, some doctors just operated someone here in vienna/austria and he is able to execute 7 moves:

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fscience.orf.at%2Fscience%2Fnews%2F150014&langpair=de%7Cen&hl=de&ie=UTF8
(translatet via google...)

http://science.orf.at/science/news/150014
(original link in german...)

[Shikatsu @ Nov 13th 2007 3:05PM]

It's only a matter of time until I can have my brain put into a robot tiger body.

[stephan @ Nov 13th 2007 4:12PM]

It was announced today (and shown on TV) that the head of plastic surgery at the General Hospital of Vienna, Austria, successfully attached such an arm to an 18 year old, who had lost both his arms in an accident. I saw him on TV and the arm seems to be working great, although it took months of training. Movement has been extended to six, not just four. Impulses are sent from the brain to his chest (pectoralis major) muscle, which is used as an activator. He can even adjust the strength of his grip...