DARPA’s Mind-Controlled Prosthetic Arm To Be on the Market Soon?

posted on Feb 22 by Snow in the Disability News, Interesting Links, Technology category

As much as science develops high tech innovations and adaptive solutions for people with disabilities, there is the slow going process of approvals which lands many innovations off the market for several years before even being approved for clinical trials. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just recently announced its “Innovation Pathway” program to expedite approvals for medical breakthrough technologies. The first device that will be going to clinical trials soon is the DARPA prosthetic robotic arm.  This means the prosthetic arm could possibly be made available to people with disabilities in as little as four or five years.

Within the next six months the military plans to begin implantation on five patients with a microchip on the surface of their brains to study a prosthetic robotic arm controlled by the user’s thoughts via the chip. This chip can decode signals to neurons that control the life-like limb, hands, and fingers to seem almost natural looking.

The development has lasted over five years and has already cost over 100 million dollars.  This innovative arm can also rotate, twist and bend in 27 different ways. If this trial is successful and the system is made available, it could dramatically improve the lives of many who have lost the use of their limbs.

Other devices developed by the military and adapted for those living with paralysis include a robotics system called Human Universal Load Carrier (HULC) which was designed to help soldiers safely carry heavy packs across difficult terrain and long distances.