With the U.S. Military reporting a record number of amputations, researchers around the globe are working frantically to find the best way to fill the void left behind.
In a video posted today to the website ProChan, we can all see exactly what kind of answers these researchers have landed.
From the site's post:
Nigel Ackland, 53, has been fitted with the Terminator-like carbon fibre mechanical hand which he can control with movements in his upper arm. The new bebionic3 myoelectric hand, which is also made from aluminium and alloy knuckles, moves like a real human limb by responding to Nigel's muscle twitches.
Ackland lost his arm six years ago to an accident at a metal smelting plant. He has since returned to work in order to support his family, but struggled with only the use of his left hand and a hook where his right ahd been.
As you can see now, he's been restored to some level of normalcy. Ackland says it's not only helped him on the job, but it's improved his morale as well.
“I have been blown away by the robotic hand, I could sit and watch it all day – I feel like the Terminator,” Ackland tells SWNS, a UK-based news site. “When you lose a part of you it can take you into quite a dark place – it is a shame the bebionic3 isn’t available for everyone, it is a whole new quality of life."
Though robotic prosthetics are nothing new, they've come leaps and bounds in the last few years.
In just this past week, with help from the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC), Zac Vawter climbed the stairs of Chicago's tallest building, using his biological leg and a robotic leg in tandem. Vawter's nerves were successfully spliced with circuits, giving him control over the motion of the 'limb.'
RIC, which gets grants from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, also outfitted a female Marine in 2006 with a robotic arm, and even says the nerve/circuit connectivity allows her to 'feel' in a way.
Ackland's arm comes from a robotic prosthetics company called RSLSteeper which is based in both the United Kingdom and the U.S.
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