After 40 Years As a Double Amputee, Man Gains Two Bionic Arms 66
MojoKid writes Les Baugh, a Colorado man who lost both arms in an electrical accident 40 years ago, is looking forward to being able to insert change into a soda machine and retrieving the beverage himself. But thanks to the wonders of science and technology — and Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) — he'll regain some of those functions while making history as the first bilateral shoulder-level amputee to wear and simultaneously control two Modular Prosthetic Limbs (MPLs). "It's a relatively new surgical procedure that reassigns nerves that once controlled the arm and the hand," explained Johns Hopkins Trauma Surgeon Albert Chi, M.D. "By reassigning existing nerves, we can make it possible for people who have had upper-arm amputations to control their prosthetic devices by merely thinking about the action they want to perform."
Re: Electrical Accident? (Score:2, Funny)
"hey buddy, now that you have two arms and hands again, what are you going to do?"
Masterbate!
Re: (Score:2)
He cut twice and both arms were still too short!
Re: (Score:2)
I'm sure it did kill him, in the sense that it stopped his heart. Apparently, however, death was just a temporary condition.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
I can comment with some authority on this (this is my cousin in the article!)
Yes, an electrical accident can make you lose both arms and stop your heart, however the fall that occurred afterwards (at least according to the doctor) restarted his heart. I saw the sun glasses he was wearing that changed color based on sunlight (which were permanently stuck in a darkened state) so the whole situation and environment around this was probably a once in a lifetime situation.
Who's got two robotic thumbs? (Score:5, Funny)
Rebel Scum (Score:2)
Looks like he'll be able to pick up and strangle Rebel Scum with just one hand now.
Let me guess (Score:1)
The prosthetics were 3D-printed?
Re: (Score:1)
nope. they are traditional CNC milled aluminum and such. The shoulder servos were the only wonky thing. Put a slimmer servo there and some shrouding, and guy could even wear a shirt with sleeves and thee only immediate thing you would notice is the hands.
That thing must require a crapton of power though.
Re: (Score:3)
It looked as though those metal braces were suspending the arms several inches further from his body than necessary. I wonder if I'm seeing it wrong, or if they were perhaps trying to prevent him accidentally ripping out his abdomen with the elbows while learning.
I don't know about power though - granted it probably wouldn't run all that long off a laptop battery, but a human arm doesn't normally exert all that much power, and human muscle is *far* less efficient (18%-26%) than modern electric motors. I me
Re: (Score:2)
This is so cool. (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
I lived long enough to see cyber limbs. Now to make them specialized for specific tasks, and have quick release mechanisms.
Two words: cyber penis
Re: (Score:2)
No, you're doing it wrong.
They should dynamically reconfigure. Switch from a hand to a ratchet, become scissors, turn into a hammer or a clamp, or just the big bashing fist.
All with super cool sound effects.
Suddenly the amputee is the cool guy at the party, and the women are whispering about what else it can turn into.
Unfortunately.... (Score:4, Funny)
Unfortunately, the arms cost $6 Million, and everything he does with them is in slow motion, accompanied by a reverb sound effect.
Re:Unfortunately.... (Score:4, Funny)
You say that like it's a bad thing. :-P
Re: (Score:2)
Oooh, and he has to wear a '70s track suit.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm sure that if you had lived without arms for 40 years these would be limitations you'd happily live with.
In fact you would be old enough to appreciate the coolness factor of becoming Steve Austin, heck we all wanted to be Steve Austin in the 70's.
Re: (Score:2)
We can make him better...
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
arms: Doink-doink-doink-doink-doink-doink-doink!
Damn (Score:3)
Nothing like a reminder that you live in the future. [imgur.com]
I know we've been talking about biomechatronics for decades, but Moore's Law and developments in nanomaterials are making things possible that were the stuff of science fiction just a few years ago. Simply put, we're starting to build amazingly large numbers of amazingly complex structures at amazingly small scales out of amazing materials, amazingly cheap.
Mind you, that's not new either; biology has been doing that for eons. Yet being able to manufacture it, to mass-produce biological or biocompatible materials like BCIs [wikipedia.org] and prosthetic organs, is a remarkable and wholly new development. I fully expect the next half century will see a medical revolution that rivals the computer revolution of the last.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Its human hacking. Pretty soon we could be literally hooking two people's nervous systems up to each other. I can't imagine why, but I bet it happens.
For the kaiju, obviously...
m
Re: (Score:2)
Hmmm ... is that the now future, the later future, or the past future (which could be now)?
The now future when you typed that is in the past, so it's the past future. Now the now future is an ever changing thing, and isn't the same now future as when I started typing this.
The future future we haven't gotten to, but we will, eventually.
So, I'd say we live in the present, which in the future will be the past. The future now will have a future
Re: (Score:2)
Later. Now. Continuously. Maybe.
Re: (Score:2)
The proper reply was "Soon".
Re: (Score:2)
You thought of DX:HR, I thought of this: http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net... [nocookie.net]
Re: (Score:2)
Well, not with the level of dexterity shown in the video, but give him a few months of practice and I bet he would become far more dexterous. Though the comment about having to operate the joints sequentially rather than simultaneously could be problematic, unless that's just a "training wheels" limitation.
Re: (Score:2)
Bah, breaking eggs is easy, and requires very little dexterity. ;-)
Keeping the yolk intact and not getting egg everywhere? A lot of people with two arms haven't mastered that yet. :)
And, really, if the man has been without arms for 40 years ... I'm pretty sure any additional independence is very welcome.
Re: (Score:2)
This is great and everything but.... (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
With Stephen Hawking and Hawklad.
Awesome! (Score:1)
You don't realize the impact this has.. (Score:1)
This is my cousin Les. You can't imagine what it is like to see this type of breakthrough for him after 40 years (I was 10 when the accident happened) :-) ) and many other fun things. But to see these videos, I'm just awe struck. Not only is it impressive technology wise, but it's just awe inspiring and brings immense jo
I've seen how amazing Les is and how he gets around and deals with life without his natural arms for most of my life. I've gone dune buggy racing with him driving (he's a crazy driver