Man Controls Prosthetic Arm With His Mind

http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/1...01550x360v.jpg

Man Controls Prosthetic Arm With His Mind
December 3, 2009

" European scientists have successfully managed to build a robotic arm that can be controlled via thoughts from the user.

In an experiment conducted last year, Pierpaolo Petruzziello moved a prosthetic limb with just his brain for an entire month. Petruzziello was left without his left arm from the elbow down following a car accident several years ago but with the new technology, the 26-year-old was able to feel sensations in the artificial limb.

"It felt almost the same as a real hand. They stimulated me a lot, even with needles ... you can't imagine what they did to me," the AP quotes Petruzziello as saying.

Surgery to attach the prosthetic involved implanting electrodes into the nerves located in what remained of Petruzziello's arm. The AP reports that once connected to his nervous system, Petruzziello was able to master moving the limb within a few days. By the end of the experiment, the robotic arm was responding to 95 percent of the commands it received from Petruzziello's brain.

The experiment so far has cost $3 million and has taken 5 years. The next step is to develop a more long term prosthesis that can be implanted for longer periods.

Video:

[youtube]0fls1nE_yzE[/youtube] "

:source: Source: http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Pierpaol...news-5253.html:view: Homepage: http://www.tomsguide.com

That so cool :P

I had 3 brain surgery's do to a infection back in Feb. and lost about 50% movement of my left arm and leg. Still working on getting it back. (still have a hole in my head where they cut the bone out).

You never know how lucky ya are until ya lose something like your arm or leg. Glad to see stuff like this happening. :01:

I stumbled on this too :P

Gotta love when scifi becomes sci. Speaking of scifi, is it just me or doesn't that look like Anakin Skywalker's arm from SW:Episode II? Won't be too much longer until they have the Luke Skywalker hand with synthetic skin out.

Wow, simply wow! Technology really is progressing at an amazing rate. This will help so many amputees and people who have lost control of a limb.

lol have they tested this for control, like if any thought came through his head?

Like say there is this hot girl in front of you and you want to grab her butt? lol could you have control or would it just do what your mind wants?

*on second view it still looks very basic what the guy could do. Also their seemed to be a delay time.

lol, I didn't pull the trigger your honer my hand did it! I was just thinking about killing him that's all.

You guys raise a good point :lol:

There's a fine line between "That bastard stole my girlfriend, I'm gonna kill him for that..." and "I'm REALLY going to kill him". A little extreme, but this applies to other situations as well.

How exactly "just thinking about things" will be differentiated between actually wanting to do something would be interesting to see.