Woman is fitted with 'bionic' arm

A former US Marine has become the first woman in the world to be fitted with a "bionic" arm that she can control by her thoughts alone.

A new bionic arm allows its owner to manipulate her hand and fingers just by thinking about them.

No, she didn’t blow up in an experimental Space Plane like Steve Austin, TV’s the Million Dollar Man, but 26-year-old Claudia Mitchell’s new bionic arm has made her faster and stronger. The arm, which Mitchell can move simply by thinking about it, was developed by physicians and engineers at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. The arm’s mechanism works by detecting the movements of the chest muscle that connected to the nerves of her former arm. Sporting three seperate motors, the bionic arm allows a vast range of movement. According to Mitchell:

“I use it to help with cooking, for holding a laundry basket, for folding clothes — all kinds of daily tasks.”

And as advanced as the arm is, engineers already have a more complex six-motored arm in development. The new arm would be able to perform more complicated motions. Whereas the three-motored version only allows Mitchel to reach so high, the six-motored device should allow her to reach over her head.

http://techfreep.com/first-bionic-arm-for-the-fairer-sex.htm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/5348458.stm

New Bionic arm coming in 2009

DARPA, the scientist arm of the Defense Department, is currently collaborating with various research institutions on creating a bionic arm that will look, feel, and act like the real thing within two years' time.

The latest edition of that endeavor has just been rolled out from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, giving the owner 100% control over all fingers and the ability to feel the sensation of grip via external electrodes.

APL expects to complete Proto 2 by the end of the summer that will be stronger, faster and more flexible, and provide even more sensory feedback, including limb position and temperature. The catch — to accommodate more advanced prosthetics, users will need to become even more bionic, replacing surface electrodes with tiny sensors that will be implanted or injected into the body.