Article submitted by Steven Fries, LPO
Bionic Man Moves Artificial Arm With Brain
Breakthrough Could Change Lives Of Amputees, Patients With Spinal Cord
Injuries
POSTED: 12:55 pm EDT June 23, 2005
UPDATED: 4:07 pm EDT June 23, 2005
CHICAGO — Researchers have developed artificial arms that can be moved as it
if they were real limbs, simply by thinking about making them move, according
to Local 6 News.
When Jesse Sullivan’s brain tells his arm to do something, it’s done in
seconds.
The world’s first bionic man, Jesse Sullivan, 54, accidentally touched live
wires while working as a utility lineman in Tennessee. He suffered severe
burns, causing him to lose his arms.
SLIDESHOW: Images Of Bionic Man
IMAGES: More strange images featured on Local6.com
Now, Sullivan is the first to try out the most sophisticated artificial arms
ever designed.
Surgeons attached his arm nerves to healthy muscles in his chest.
Video
Bionic Man Moves Artificial Arm With Brain
“So now when Jess thinks, close hand, the impulse is picked up by a
transmitter, and goes to his hand,” doctor Todd Kuiken said. “He thinks, closes hand
and it does.”
Sullivan’s hand rotates 360 degrees, according to the report. When Sullivan’s
brain tells his arm to do something, it’s done in seconds and he has feeling
in the bionic arm.
“This gives me a lot of hope,” Sullivan said. “I was an independent kind of
guy. I didn’t ask anybody for anything. If I could do it, I did it.”
Eventually tiny sensors in the fingertips will allow Sullivan to feel texture
and temperature.
Doctors at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago said the breakthrough
could change the lives of amputees, patients with spinal cord injuries and stroke
victims, according to the report.
By the time it’s perfected, the cost of manufacturing the bionic arm is
expected to be about $6 million, according to the report.
For more information on the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Please click
www.ric.org.
Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
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