"Manhattan Project" For Prosthetic Arms

cortex tips us to a story about a nationwide effort to incorporate advanced technology into the next generation of prosthetic arms. Researchers for the DARPA-funded project are developing feedback techniques that range from sensors on the surface of the user's skin to electrodes implanted on the inside of the user's skull that intercept and interpret signals from the motor cortex. Quoting: "'Think about taking a sip from a can of soda,' Harshbarger says. The complex neural feedback system connecting a native limb to its user lets that user ignore an entire series of complicated steps. The nervous system makes constant automatic adjustments to ensure, for example, that the tilt of the wrist adjusts to compensate for the changing fluid level inside the can. The action requires little to no attention. Not so for the wearer of current prosthetic arms, for whom the act of taking a sip of soda precludes any other activity. The wearer must first consciously direct the arm to extend it to the correct point in space, then switch modes to rotate the wrist into proper position. Then he must open the hand, close it to grasp the soda can (not so weakly as to drop it but not so hard as to crush it), switch modes to bend the elbow to correctly place the can in front of his mouth, rotate the wrist into position, and then concentrate on drinking from the can of soda without spilling it."

Obvious

Research into prosthetics always blooms during and after a war.
Of course it's a good thing for civil injuries too, but it's still a sad occasion.

Re:Obvious

Actually DARPA are funding a project to regrow limbs in adult mammals too

http://www.uml.edu/media/eNews/DARPA%20Braunhut%20limb%20regeneration.html [uml.edu]

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Prosthetics hide the visible damage, and make it somewhat possible to function again on a physical level. But where is the influx of money for treating alcoholism, drug abuse, post traumatic stress disorder, lack of sexual appetite leading to divorce, alie

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Is it not true though that our enemies IEDs and such are specificially designed to maim. And do you really think gulf war/gulf war II syndrome isn't real?

One heard saying...

One recipient of a new prosthetic hand crushed his pewter goblet and proclaimed that the new prosthetic hand was "Groovy!"

Congratulations, son!

Mobile Infantry made me the man I am today!

Dean Kamen spoke at TED about this

From the summary:

Inventor Dean Kamen previews the extraordinary prosthetic arm he's developing at the request of the Department of Defense, to help the 1,600 "kids" who've come back from Iraq without an arm (and the two dozen who've lost both arms). Kamen's commitment to using technology to solve problems, and his respect for the human spirit, have never been more clear than in this deeply moving clip.

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/82 [ted.com]

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The online video of Kamen's talk is well worth watching. Dean is a smart guy, but even he didn't think that this was possible at first. Then he saw some of the existing technology and thought about the impact that an advanced prosthetic arm would have on

"Manhattan Project?"

So it's an arms race, then?

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So it's an arms race, then?

They're just working to get a leg up on the competition.

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Once again it's nice to see /.ers have a firm grasp of the situation.

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Which is rare; slashdotters rarely have a leg to stand on in discussions like this.

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Thats the bomb!

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I always thought the next generation of prosthetic arms would allow you to store up so much energy, your entire body would appear to blink and make a weird noise. You could then release that energy toward any given direction. Also, you should have a rapi

Hmmm. Dr. Octopus?

I wonder, DARPA is doing a lot of work on doing neural interfaces, as well. It would be interesting if this could be combined to give a person more arms, esp if just temporary (say a 1 year stint). In addition, I would think that all this work on arms for ppl, will apply to pure robotics.

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I'm left handed. An arm nearly as dextrous as my left... that would be *really* useful. My right... about the only thing I can really do with it is type and hold things still. Having another one of those wouldn't be all that useful.

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I was not suggesting this a replacements, but as extras. If you are in the field in iraq/afghastan (or wherever our next war is at), you would find 6 extra arms EXTREMELY useful. Esp. if they have a bit of intelligence in each. Heck, the ability to equip o

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I understood your point. And I was thinking another arm as dextrous as my right arm would be mostly useless. However another nearly as dextrous as my left would be really useful and useful in more mundane situations... in the lab running experiments or s

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Personally, I am not interested in the extra arm. But, if I were serving, I would like to have every advantage that I can. And considering that this is the US DOD that is funding it, they will probably consider similar ideas.

As to you last line, I am no

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As time went on, we realized that it was actually weaponry that we were developing (DOD had other intentions based on how they were changing our protocols). As a young man, I thought that it was abhorrent and left the project. Now, as I watch China's military building up, I know that the work that I was doing actually could make a difference. The reason is that Chinese leaders are gearing up for a war. The problem is that they have MANY times the troops levels that we have. The major thing that holds them in check is that they KNOW we have a very high tech advantage. But with their continuing theft of our military secrets and W. having tied us up in Iraq, combined with our monster growing deficits, it is only a matter of time before they are equal to us (from the chinese leaders POV).

The difference you made could have been simply designing more technology to fall into China's hands, too. Look, we know China might get a little anxious about putting down its immediate neighbors, but they won't be going to war with us. In fact, war betw

WMD

Ah, yes, Mantrid arms [wikipedia.org], weapons of mass destruction.

Manhatten II

Great NEWS!

The "Manhattan Project" for prosthetics is just what we need. We MUST get those prosthetic arms before the Nazis do. Let's send every prosthetic scientist in the country to the middle of nowhere New Mexico. We must have utmost secrecy on this

bullshit!

a small child doesn't adjust cup while drinking, they'll spill if they're not using a lidded training cup. The brain has to learn to do those complicated automatic adjustments and it takes a very long time. so that can be true for prosthetic limbs too, i

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No, it doesn't work well for the arm, either. The problem is that the electrical signals on the skin are very, very noisy, and filtering it enough to get a readable signal introduces a phase delay of at least 100 msec. There are still no good implantable e

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Another interesting thought on this is just how much the "subconscious" processes can still be learned. They are not fixed in stone - even remotely.

Watching my mother attempt to operate a mouse is a painful experience, but how many of us on Slashdot even