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DARPA is giving war vets first access to LUKE bionic arms
DARPA's sophisticated LUKE bionic arm is ready for production, eight years after its development began and a couple of years after it was approved by the FDA. Before the bionic limb makes the transition into a commercial product, though, the military division is giving war veterans access to its initial production run. DARPA's Biological Technologies Office director Justin Sanchez has recently delivered two LUKE arms to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for use by a couple of vets in need of a prosthetic limb.
FDA approves a life-like prosthetic arm from the man who invented the Segway
After years of testing, the FDA today approved a new type of prosthetic arm that its makers claim will bring a whole new level of control to amputees. Known as the "Luke" arm or DEKA Arm System, Segway inventor Dean Kamen has been involved in its development and unlike existing prosthetics, it can understand multiple commands at once, giving its wearers "near-natural" control of the limb. As demonstrated in the videos embedded after the break, tests show wearers can get back to easily performing tasks like using keys and locks, brushing their hair, removing papers from an envelope, or picking up an egg without breaking it. While we've seen demos using other mind control techniques, the one approved for sale does its magic with electromyogram (EMG) sensors activated by the wearer contracting muscles close to where the prosthesis is attached or on their feet, which an embedded computer translates into movement.
Dean Kamen's Luke arm now has mind-control and 3D-spatial interfaces
Inventor extraordinaire Dean Kamen spoke at D today about the latest developments in the Luke arm. Not that it wasn't already impressive enough, but Kamen's company, DEKA Research, has made even more amazing developments in the arm's interface, complementing the early mechanical controls with spatial and neural interfaces. The shot above was taken of a man with transected nerves, which were interfaced directly to the arm, enabling him to delicately utilize numerous degrees of motion within hours of installation. Also in development for the Luke arm is a spatial interface (which would intelligently give some control of movement back to the arm itself), as well as a non-invasive mind interface that utilizes infrared to read neural signals through the skull. Furthermore, to lend in balance and motion with heavier usage, a new body-mounting chassis was built, featuring embedded bladders that tense up (inflate). Fricking crazy stuff. Shots from Kamen's demo videos below.%Gallery-23996%
Dean Kamen's "Luke" artificial arm gets demoed on video
It's still awaiting formal clinical trials, but Dean Kamen's so-called "Luke" artificial arm has already gone through its share of tests, which we can now thankfully catch a glimpse of courtesy of a new video from the folks at IEEE Spectrum Online. That same video also helpfully provides a few more details on the arm, including word that it can be controlled through a variety of means including foot pedals, nerves or muscles, and that it packs force feedback to give the wearer an indication of grip strength, among other suitably sci-fi-like things. Of course, none of this exactly does the arm justice, so be sure to check out the video at the read link below to see it in action for yourself.[Thanks, Sarah]
Dean Kamen's robo-arm awaits clinical trials
Apparently somewhere along the way Dean Kamen's robo-prosthestesis came to be called the Luke arm (care to guess why?), and according to the IEEE Spectrum blog, it's gearing up to undergo Food and Drug Administration trials pending DARPA's final thumbs-up, which would put the project in motion. Be sure to check out the rest of the profile of the arm's development, which is well worth the read.
