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Scientists are one step closer to growing replacement limbs
If the goal in medicine is to be able to repair people as if they were made out of Lego, then we just took a big stride towards that future. A team at Massachusetts General Hospital has managed to grow a rat's forearm that, theoretically, could open the door to whole-limb transplants. The team, led by organ regeneration expert Harold Ott used a technique called decel/recel, which has already been used to grow hearts, lungs and kidneys within the confines of a petri dish.
Amputees can now control artificial limbs with their minds
Artificial limbs controlled by muscle movement are already a thing, but what if someone developed a way to wire a prosthetic directly into someone's nervous system? That's what a team at Chalmers University have achieved with an implantable prosthetic system that relies entirely upon neural control. Where the existing tech requires surface sensors, this osseointegrated implant is akin to having a USB port wired into your nervous system, offering a much greater level of control. Even better, the device isn't vulnerable to electromagnetic interference from outside sources, enabling the test subject, a lorry driver who lost his arm a decade ago, to use a power drill without worry. The team is already working on treating more patients, and is even researching a way for the limb to send stimulus back to its wearer, enabling them to once again feel the things that they're touching. [Image Credit: Linda Bränvall and Martin Carlsson / Chalmers University]
Monkeys control virtual arm with their brains, may herald breakthrough for paraplegics
Monkey mind-controlled arm: It sounds like the name of an awesomely terrible sci-fi film or a fledgling grindcore group, but it's a very real phenomenon, and one that could pay significant dividends for paraplegics everywhere. Neurobiology professor Miguel Nicolelis and his team of researchers at Duke University recently devised a method by which monkeys (and, perhaps one day, humans) can control a virtual arm using only their brains. It's a concept similar to what DARPA has been pursuing with its mind-controlled "Luke" arm, with one important difference: Nicolelis' system not only allows users to remotely execute motor functions, but provides them with near-instantaneous sensory feedback, as well. Most similar techniques use electrode implants to stimulate brain activity, but this can create confusion when a patient's brain sends and receives signals to and from a prosthetic arm. Nicolelis circumvented this problem with a new interface that can read and transmit brain signals to an artificial limb, before switching to a receptive mode in just milliseconds. After designing the technology, Nicolelis and his colleagues tested it on two, electrode-equipped rhesus monkeys. One set of electrodes was placed in the motor cortex of each animal, with the other implanted within their brains' sensory regions. They then trained the monkeys to look at a three identical objects on a computer screen and to "touch" each object with a virtual arm, controlled by signals sent from the brain electrodes. Only one of the three objects had a so-called "virtual texture," which, if selected with the on-screen arm, would send a sensory signal back to the monkey's brain (while triggering a tasty squirt of fruit juice for the lucky contestant). The two rhesus species ended up passing the test with flying colors, resulting in a "proof of principle" that Nicolelis' system can send tactile signals to the brain in almost real-time. The scientists have already developed a way for monkeys to control the arm wirelessly, and are now embedding their technology within a full-body, mind-controlled exoskeleton for paralyzed patients, as well. Of course, the technology still needs to be tested on actual humans, though Nicolelis seems confident that he and his team have already cleared the most difficult hurdle: "Since we cannot talk to the monkeys, I assume with human patients, it's going to be much easier."
Mind-controlled prosthetic arm moving to market in Europe
Germany-based Otto Bock Healthcare has announced that its prototype prosthetic arm which can be controlled by thought is ready to hit the market. The device has been in testing on Christian Kandlbauer -- who doesn't have any arms and has a conventional prosthetic on his right side -- for the past four years. He's the first person in Europe to have a thought-controlled prosthesis installed, but the research is complete and the finished product should soon be available to the public. The arm makes use of targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR), which uses nerves that controlled the lost arm to control the prosthesis. The nerves are transplanted to the chest in a six-hour operation and enable the prosthetic control. The full details of the arm's operation and controls have yet to be unveiled, but hit up the source link for more information.
Video: Teenager's new i-LIMB prosthetic hand is super cool
We've seen the i-LIMB plenty in the past, but we have to say that seeing it in action -- newly installed on teenager Evan Reynolds -- is pretty impressive. The prosthetic is so sensitive that Reynolds can grip a small bottle of water, no problem. We assure you: it's pretty cool.
Dean Kamen's robotic prosthetic arm gets detailed on video
While you'd heard the whispers of a robotic prosthetic arm being crafted by Dean Kamen and his engineering colleagues, very little details have since surfaced on the project. Thankfully, a video was captured during a recent conference in Honolulu, Hawaii where Dean was addressing the FIRST Robotics competition. During the speech, however, he segued (ahem) into a brief glimpse at what's been going on behind the scenes with the device. Shown as "Gen X - Separate Exo Control," the robotic arm was seen demonstrated by team members grasping a water bottle from a friend, picking up an ink pen and turning the wrist over in order to write, and even scratching his nose. Kamen explained that haptic response was paramount, and the "fully completed" prototype sports 14 degrees of freedom (and actuators) and weighs less than nine pounds. Click on through for the captured demonstration.[Via BoingBoing]
