Brain-controlled prosthetic arms for amputee soldiers

Devices for the Future

Device Description

Brain controlled prosthetics that have been designed so well that they are almost natural, are the focus of this paper. These limbs enabled humans to figure out how to move them in similar ways as they would coordinate their own arm movements, and consequently get the prosthetics arms to actual functionality (Collinger, B. Wodlinger, Wang, Tyler-Kabara, & Weber, 2013). The research method constituted decoding and recording of motor cortical signals so as to present the participants in the research with the ability to coordinate approximately 10 DOFs with the prosthetic systems of the arm.

Potential Markets, the Need for the Limbs and who Benefits

The aim of this project was to assist improve the quality of life of amputees from war. It was also to enhance their independence and functioning, to enable daily living activities and resuming service. DARPA started working on this project as a response to a high number of amputees and nervous system injuries that were recorded among members of the service. Significant upper extremity injuries and disabilities are a marked issue in the Department of Defense. Statistical data shows that there was approximately 6000 amputation of service members in the U.S. armed forces; cases between the years 2011. Two thirds of these amputations were those of the upper extremities (O'Donnell, 2012). Apart from amputees, the prosthetics in this revolutionary project is of great help to people who have suffered the loss of functionality of the upper extremity, because of an injury of the spinal cord. Further data shows that the U.S. alone has about 300,000 people with SCI. There are 12,000 cases added each year.

Where the Prosthetic Limb is Made

This miracle Device can be got from The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) and DEKA. They took up the challenge to design and build the device to fulfill the demands of the program (Robbin, et al., 2015).

Estimate Cost

A BCI system that is non-invasive costs approximately $10,000, plus the cost of the fees for extra-technical support.

The FDA Class: 2

Status Approval

FDA gave its approval to DEKA in May of 2014. The input control modalities at the initial stage of the approval process included EMG control and inertial. There are efforts that are on-going to make the device available to the public and military personnel (Robbin, et al., 2015).

Why You and Your Colleague Should Pay Attention to the Development and Existence of this Device

The system is outstanding because it makes use of technology to capture bran waves, decipher information, and use the information to coordinate a robotic arm and more. It is indeed an early stage in the development of functional robots.